


The Life and Times of a Certain Ms Stilinski

by Gemmie_Bear



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Eventual Smut, Explicit Language, F/M, Female Stiles Stilinski, Fluff and Smut, Mild Voyeurism, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pretty much porn at times, Property owner Derek, Romance, Tenant Stiles, overcoming differences
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-18
Updated: 2018-06-05
Packaged: 2018-11-15 15:27:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 36
Words: 44,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11233851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gemmie_Bear/pseuds/Gemmie_Bear
Summary: When Derek finds out one of his tenants hasn't been abiding the rules and regulations of one of his apartments, he decides to pay a certain odd-named Stiles a visit to tell her to either shape up or ship out.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Set mostly to Teen Wolf, as we know and love it, but Stiles is female, and has not met anyone in the pack until they pay her visit.
> 
> Also, Derek is the Alpha , because Alpha Derek is forever. 
> 
> Won’t give too much away just yet!

Stiles POV

She opened her eyes, both basking in and hating the sun that was peeking through her curtains, shining right into her eyes.

“Oh good, what a great sunny morning…” She mentally thanked her two kittens for obviously playing with and moving the curtains while she slept, and staggered to the bathroom, not sliding the bathroom door open fast enough and in her sleep induced state, she slammed right into the frame.

“Awesome!” She rubbed her nose, which had taken the brunt of the force. ‘I hope this doesn’t bruise or anything’ she thought to herself, as she ran the shower.

After her hot shower, she grabbed her hoodie from the night before, a longer length red one, and slipped it over her body and walked through to the kitchen, desperately needing a fix of caffeine.

“Morning peasants”, she smiled at her little family, the only ‘people’ who had ever made her feel comfortable and welcome. The kittens took no notice of her, continuing to play in the litter box as if it was actually a sand box.

“You guys are actually so disgusting,” she laughed as she rattled the kittens’ pellets, which certainly had their attention quickly.

“Yeah, it’s me, your mother! How about tonight, you leave the curtain alone hmmm?” She filled their bowls, watching contently as they ate their fill.

Just as the coffee machine finished her cup, she called for her other two fur babies, two beautiful dachshunds, and she would beat the crap out of anyone who didn’t agree with that statement. “It’s also your breakfast time, so if you would be so kind as to get out of bed, that would be nice!" She placed their bowls on the floor, watching Batman and Robin (yes, seriously, and she is a genius for using those names, thank you very much) eat as if they haven’t eaten in days, rather than one evening.

The kittens, well they took a little more, uh, patience, I suppose, than the dogs. One was sweet, and loving, and so chubby it was amazing to just cuddle her and kiss her belly. She is called Calamity. The other, well. He is a walking nightmare. Stiles jokes with other pet-parents at the vet that she wouldn’t be surprised if she went home one day to find him playing with matches, his name? Chaos. It fits him beautifully. And she wouldn’t change a damn thing about him, because watching his kitty-parkour might be the one time every day that she doesn’t feel too sad. Something about him being a literal idiot warms her heart tremendously. Then again, there is nothing she wouldn’t do for her babies, including the fact that she moved into a non-pet friendly apartment, simply because she had nowhere else to go.

Her father had kicked her out in one of his drunken states, and had hurt her so badly that she wasn’t sure she would ever forgive him, but she didn’t dwell on that thought for too long, and busied herself with her own breakfast, hoping that today she would maybe find a job, because it’s getting more and more difficult to scrape the cash together for good pet food and rent, never mind that she has been living off coffee, eggs, bread and milk for 2 weeks now.

After eating her breakfast in the sun shine on the balcony, and thoroughly enjoying the sun on her face, she went to put on something else, as only wearing her hoodie wasn’t exactly warm enough. She was glad there was only one window that looked onto her balcony, so she hoped no one had actually seen her out there, as the hoodie doesn’t cover very much, leaving a slight tease of her bum peeping out from the bottom, but she hadn’t seen anyone moving around in that apartment for some time, and hoped it would be vacant for a while. It did not sound awesome to have to share line-of-sight with other people on their balcony, right opposite her. Where is the privacy?

She grabbed her favourite skinny jeans and combat boots, and after putting on a bra and a shirt, her hoodie went back on too. It was at this point, that had Stiles looked out of the gap of her curtains, she might have noticed the movement in the apartment opposite her, perhaps she would have even noticed the set of red eyes shining from the darkened room.


	2. Chapter 2

Derek POV

“What. The. Fuck. Are you doing in my room?”

His eyes flashed as he watched his betas avoid looking at him.

“Um, Derek, there’s uh, this girl- “

“Are you watching someone from my window?” He wasn’t sure whether he should be impressed that Isaac is showing attention towards another human being, or whether he should be worried about this voyeurism he was displaying.

“No, dude- “

“I’ve told you not to call me dude, Scott!” His eyes flashed again, ever since getting back to this apartment something has felt… Different. It was making him uneasy.

“Ok, ok, I’m sorry. Just, the woman, we heard her talking to someone she called a peasant, but we can’t hear another voice. But we can also hear 5 heartbeats.”

Derek moved towards the window, “5?”

“Yeah. But 4 are definitely not human.”

“So, she is the one who the other tenants have been complaining about. I’ll need to go see her, and tell her to get rid of the animals or move out.”

Scott looked crestfallen. He was working in a vet, while working through vet school, he knew how many animals needed good homes, and he also knew how much a person was capable of loving their pets. He sincerely hoped this woman had a good excuse and wouldn’t abandon her pets.

Isaac grabbed Scott’s arm and pulled him out of Derek’s room, leaving him to seethe about the blatant disregard for his rules of no pets. Just as Derek was about to leave the room too, he saw the woman go onto the balcony, wearing only a hoodie that covered barely enough, and he couldn’t bring himself to move, so he stayed hidden in the dark corner of his room watching her, and catching one or two (or more) glimpses up her legs under her hoodie when she shifted. He enjoyed the way she savoured her coffee, turning her face toward the sun, running her hands up and down her thighs in an attempt to get rid of the chill that settled on her skin.

When she moved into the house, he was about to leave again when she entered her bedroom, pulling that damned hoodie off, probably not realising someone could see right into her bedroom. She was beautiful, and the fact that she was naked was making it increasingly more difficult for Derek to stand still. He tried to look away, he honestly did, but she was breath taking, and he felt a pull to her that he couldn’t explain. He watched while she shimmied into skinny jeans – he couldn’t help that he wanted to immediately get her out of them either, but hey no one is perfect. Before she had finished pulling on her hoodie, he made sure to retreat out of his room, having to rearrange himself in his jeans before he faced his betas, who would undoubtedly mock him if he gave them the chance.

 ***

Derek felt more and more on edge, the closer it came to the time he had Lydia arrange with Stiles (who names their kid Stiles, by the way?) to meet up. The betas could feel his unease, but he had no explanation. Just before 12pm, Lydia came to him on the balcony, where he was trying to block out the smells that the small apartment complex seemed to harbour.

‘Probably her dogs’, he thought scathingly, casting a look of daggers across to her apartment. He could hear her bustling around, it also sounded like she was talking to someone again, telling them to just be patient.

“Derek.”

He looked towards Lydia, who was making a point of ignoring him watching Stiles’ apartment and was scrutinising her immaculate nails.

“Lydia.”

“You need to leave.” She levelled him with a look. That look was probably why he had asked her to take control of the various properties he owned, because she could get people to do anything, never mind being a banshee, THAT was her superpower. Manipulation. Intimidation. Coercion.

“No. You go.’”

He turned back, glaring at Stiles’ apartment, but Lydia just moved closer and poked him on his shoulder.

“Do tell me what you hope to accomplish by glaring at her apartment- “

“MY apartment, Lydia.”

“Derek, just go, please. I have so much to do, you just moved us out here and I have nothing planned, and my clothes are just one pile of awful creases and- “

“I’ll go?” Scott was leaning against the balcony door, those stupid puppy dog eyes in full force.

Derek sighed, he knew Scott didn’t like parting pets and people.

“I don’t fucking care who goes, but someone go tell her she has 48 hours to move out!”

Derek watched Scott practically sprint from the apartment, across the parking lot, and he could still hear him running up the stairs before he decided he needed to leave.

Man, he missed his Camaro.

“Lydia, I’m taking the Hyundai.”

“Derek, we need shopping, either take us or leave the car.” God he hated Lydia sometimes.

“Get an Uber”, he practically growled as he slammed the door behind him.

He climbed into the Hyundai, turning his nose up at the smell of cheap fabric seats.

Man, he misses his Camaro.

He turned the Hyundai on and groaned at its quiet and economical sounding engine.

When the fuck is his Camaro getting here!?


	3. Chapter 3

Stiles’ POV  
  
Just as Stiles had closed the kittens and dogs into the bathroom, and closed the bedroom door (would that mask any noise they made? She freaking hoped so!), there was a knock at the door.

She fiddles with her hoodie a little before opening the door, she was so nervous and twitchy and – huh, had she taken her Adderall this morning? Hmmm who knows. She unlocked the door and swung it open, almost smacking herself in the face with the edge of the door again.

“Uh, you do not look like a Lydia?” She asked the boy standing outside, who just laughed.

“No, I’m definitely not Lydia!”

“Um, are you Derek then? Hi, I’m Stiles!” She shot her hand out in greeting.

The boy laughed once more and shook her hand, “no, I’m Scott. Lydia and Derek are both a little busy so they asked me to come meet you instead.”

“Oh, right, well hi Scott, good to meet you, want to come in?” She opened the door wider, and stepped back.  
“Thanks!” Scott bounded inside, (how much of a puppy is this kid?) and threw himself on the couch.

“Um. Make yourself at home?” Stiles almost laughed at how comfortable Scott looked in her house, but immediately became concerned as to why he was so comfortable.

“Shit, sorry! I’m uh, kind of used to just being comfortable in people’s houses, I have a lot of friends?”

Stiles laughed hard at that, “Are you asking me if you have lots of friends?”

Scott’s eyes widened before he burst out in laughter again, “Shit no, I DO have friends! I think?” He winked as he spoke to Stiles, but she didn’t feel threatened.

“Want some coffee? Or tea? Or hot chocolate? Water? Juice?”

“Whoa, it's ok, tea is great, but I’d rather meet your dogs.” He looked so proud when he saw the look of shock on Stiles’ face.

“Um, no, I have no dogs? I mean, I like them, but I can’t, and rules and stuff and – “

It was at this point that Robin decided she wanted to add her two cents to this conversation by howling. So. Fucking. Loudly.

And Scott just laughed.

“Um, ok, so I can explain and it's – “

“Stiles?”

She clasped her hands in front of her, “yes?”

“Please can I meet your dogs, and then we can have tea and talk about them?”

He didn’t seem angry, and Stiles knew the worst that would happen is they would force her to move out, and she had lived in her car before. Yuk. She was not looking forward to sharing a sleeping space with a litter box again. But maybe if she left a window cracked a little, it wouldn’t be so bad? Scott cleared his throat.

“Sorry to disturb whatever internal battle you were having there, are you ok?”

“Yeah, yeah!” Stiles tried to sound cheerful as she walked slowly to the bedroom door, cringing at a second, longer howl from Robin, before opening the door, and calling it quits, just letting the animals out, watching them dart out the bathroom towards the lounge. Who cares if all hell breaks loose at this point, she is already as good as homeless. She took a deep breathe and turned around, only to see Scott lying on the floor, with all 4 animals crowding around him. Robin was so in love she was licking his face with all she could give, Batman was pretending to be all casual by calmly sniffing, but the fast thumping of his tail against the couch gave away his interest. The kittens were fighting and conquering one another and standing on his chest, before the other would attack and they would both go sliding off his side.

Stiles laughed quietly to herself, before walking to the kitchen and putting the kettle on, grabbing two cups.

“Herbal tea or normal?” She called over the cacophony emanating from the lounge floor.

“Normal please, lots of milk and like 5 sugars!” Scott laughed out his request, and Stiles could hear him wrestling with one of the dogs, most likely Robin, as Batman thought physical playing like that was too much and would rather veg in the sunlight.

“Holy crap, 5 sugars?”

He laughed again, “Yes, and stop judging me!”  
“Hey, all I’m saying is I am such a nice, sweet person, and I have no sugar, what does that say about you?”

Scott appeared next to her, his hair standing on edge, and a truly adorable smile plastered on his face. “Excuse me, but can I have your hand for a minute?” He smiled so sweetly as he held his hand out, and Stiles wasn’t sure she knew what he was going to say, but she slid her hand into his anyway.

Scott put his other hand above hers, and looked into her eyes with a very serious expression.

“You know the saying, cold hands, cold heart? Your hands are freezing. Mine are hot. Therefore, I am a nicer person than you!” The smile he gave Stiles was blinding but she could not help doubling over in laughter.

“You idiot, the saying is cold hands, WARM heart!” She wiped tears from her eyes with her free hand, loving the confusion that passed Scott’s face.

“No, that makes no sense Stiles!”  
“Shut up and drink your tea!” Stiles withdrew her hand and carefully passed Scott his tea, not wanting to scald the poor guy.

He walked towards the couch where he sat down and waited for Stiles to join.

When Stiles sat down, he took a deep breath and looked at her, before starting. “Listen, I know you know you can’t have dogs up here; you don’t have a garden. Hell, you can’t even have cats!”  
Stiles looked into her tea, fully aware of how this ends. It wasn’t her first rodeo.

Scott continued, “can you just tell me why you think it’s ok?” He looked at her until she looked up, and he didn’t look upset or angry, he just looked curious.

They sat in silence for a couple of minutes, sipping at their tea. Eventually, Scott must have gotten bored and poked Stiles in her side, trying to get her to talk.

“Scott. You don’t get it…”  
“So tell me. Explain it to me!”

Stiles took a calming breath, feeling the panic rising. “I have nowhere else to go, ok? These are not animals to me, I don’t own 2 dogs and 2 cats. I have a family, of which is made up of 2 dogs and 2 awful yet adorable kittens. And I love them. That’s why I’m here, because I can’t, I won’t just drop them off at some shelter where they don’t feel loved and they get fed crap food, or worse someone else adopts them and treats them badly, and I can’t have that!” Stiles was practically yelling at the end and needed a large breath to calm herself down. She looked over to Scott, who for some reason looked so pleased and it kind of made Stiles want to hug him. Or punch him. She wasn’t quite sure just yet.

“Fuck me I’m glad you feel that way!” He threw himself at Stiles and pulled her into a hug.

“Um, what?” Stiles sat awkwardly in his embrace while he held her and explained.

“Listen, I work at a vet. I want to be a vet, and I see so many people who have pets and they don’t love them,” then he pulled away slightly and looked into her eyes, with a serious look, “wait, what happens when your dogs need to go?”

“Go? You mean pee?”

“Yeah.”

“I work from home.” Small lie, yes. To work from home, one would need a job. “I walk them whenever they need to go outside, I taught them to ring the bell by the door, and I take them every time they ring. I love them and I want the best for them, and I know that being with me, even here, is the best.” Stiles looked so serious that Scott laughed.

“The more you talk, the more I feel like we are gonna be best friends!” He hugged her tightly once more before jumping up, grabbing both empty mugs and taking them to the kitchen.

“I’m gonna speak to Derek, and hopefully I can convince him to let you stay.

Stiles stood up. “Scott, I don’t need you to fight with your boss over this, over me!”

“No, he isn’t my boss, he is my friend. I just thought I’d help him out today and come see you.”

“Well my point still stands, I can take care of myself and I will tell him everything I told you if I have to.” She crossed her arms over her chest, hoping to convey her faux-confidence.

“Stiles, please let me talk to him, and then let’s see.”  
With that, he hugged her again and left.

Stiles stood in the centre of the lounge for what felt like ages, before she sat on the floor in the centre of the lounge for what felt like ages. Scott’s great and all, but why was he so willing to help her? And how stressful can one meeting be, especially when it ends with having someone on her side?


	4. Chapter 4

Derek POV

Sometimes he still hated everyone. Today, right now, was one of those times.

“You told her what.” His voice low and definitely conveying his irritation well.

“I told her that I’d talk you into letting her stay, come on du-man. Hemhem. Man. You. Derek.” At least Scott had the audacity to look guilty.

“Scott, I want to punch you so hard right now.” Derek pinched the bridge of this nose, not looking forward to now having to go see Stiles himself and let her know she still had to move. And Lydia had taken the car, saying she, Isaac and Erica would be gone for hours doing shopping.

Derek seriously thought about putting a hole in the concrete wall. Preferably using Scott’s body to do so. Instead, he got up, grabbed his leather jacket and headed for the door.

“Scott, come with me. You need to see how to deal with things in future.”  
Scott slowly walked after him, now regretting his conversation with Stiles. He had sent Lydia an SOS text when Derek first got angry, and he was hoping she would get there before Derek was banging on Stiles’ door.   

Just as Derek walked around the second apartment block, Stiles’ block, the silver i20 pulled right in front of Derek, forcing him to stop.

“Hey Derek!” Lydia gracefully stepped out from the drivers side, flicking her hair back. “I think we should all go home and deal with this tomorrow.”

Derek knew that look in her eye. It means that she is going to lash out at anyone who disagrees. He still didn’t know how to handle that side of Lydia; as the Alpha, he wanted her to submit, but as a man, he was terrified. Today, the man in him won, and he rolled his eyes dramatically before turning and heading home, leaving Stiles until tomorrow.

 

Stiles POV

The knocking on the door woke her up. 'Who the hell is here, now, at this ungodly hour?' She mentally cursed whoever was at the other side of the door while she grabbed her phone to check the time.

Oh. It’s only 8;38pm. 'Wow, I have such an exciting life, in pjs and sleeping at 8 thirty, I seriously need friends,' she thought to herself as she shuffled to the door.

She opened the door, first noticing a gorgeous red head, and then Scott standing behind her with an adult-child. ‘Adult-child? Does that even make sense?’ Before she could decide if that term fits, Scott spoke up.

“Hey Stiles!” He looked at her pjs. “Um. Sorry, didn’t realise you would be sleeping already. Hi!” He smiled at her and she laughed, letting everyone in before trying to introduce herself.

“I’m Lydia, good to see you.” Stiles nodded at her, damn she was aloof. And hot. Stiles loves it.

“And I’m Isaac.” Adult-child was so cute, with his golden cloud of hair, Stiles just wanted to touch it and feed the skinny boy up. With what food, who knows. Maybe he liked dog pellets!

“Stiles.” Stiles looked at Scott, who had spoken so solemnly that Stiles just laughed and hugged him.

Everyone kind of stood around awkwardly while Stiles locked the door, and that tension didn’t change when she turned to look at them. Or when the dogs ran up to them in greeting.

“They glow in the dark.”

Scott looked up to Stiles from petting Batman. “What?”

“My pjs. The smiley faces light up in the dark. They look kind of satanic though, I don’t know why, but they are cute in the light.”

Isaac and Scott shared a glance before they laughed, and that broke the tension.

“So, what can I help you guys with?”  
She waved them towards the couch, and when they all sat down, Lydia spoke up.

“So, you have dogs.”

“Um.” Stiles looked at the dogs in question. “Yes. Yes, I guess I do."

Lydia rolled her eyes.

“Technically,” she added, “they are superheroes you know. Batman. And Robin. They are in disguise. But I can't tell you that officially,” she added with a wink.

At this point, Scott lost it and could not control his laughter, which got Isaac started, and Stiles was never above laughing at her own jokes so she joined too. Only Lydia remained somewhat in control, a small smile on her lips.

“Ok, funny. Point is, Derek is upset that you have pets up here, and he is coming to talk to you tomorrow about it. I suggest you have an argument as to why he should let you stay.” Lydia was smoothing her skirt by the time she stopped talking.

“Ok. Uh, how about I tell Derek I am hiding Batman and Robin in disguise?” Stiles smirked towards Scott, who tried in vain to not laugh.

“Stiles!” Lydia stood up in agitation. “Please, I am trying to help you!”  
Stiles swallowed and settled down. “Lydia, I don’t have anything I can tell him. Maybe, just that I don’t want to live in my car again?” She looked down towards her fingers in embarrassment at admitting that.

“Stiles, I am fairly sure you have a reason for coming here and living in this apartment with pets. Maybe explain your story to Derek.”

With that, Lydia beckoned Isaac and Scott, and the three of them left after bidding goodnight.

Shortly after, Stiles decided this day had sucked enough, and she wanted to end it on a good note, because there was surely no reason she should stay up stressing about tomorrow. Whatever happened, she would find a way again. She always did. She had to.

Before she climbed into bed, she pulled off her pjs, climbing naked under the covers. She made herself comfortable before sliding a cold hand under the covers and down her body, gasping at the temperature contrast. She put her left hand above her head, imaging someone holding it there, forcing her to stay still. Her right fingers trailed her breasts, pinching and rolling her nipples until she was gasping and pushing up, desperate for more. She trailed her fingers down her sides, gently tracing patterns into her skin, almost believing the fingers weren’t hers. She bent and lifted her knees, spreading her legs more as she slowly teased herself, never quite touching herself where she really wanted it.

She forced the blanket down, wanting to see her fingers touching her body, desperately trying to imagine watching someone else touch her. There was a slither of moonlight that danced against her skin; she looked up and saw the curtains were slightly open still, but more so than this morning. ‘Stupid kittens.’ She didn’t bother getting up to close the curtains, as she was certain no one was in that empty apartment opposite her, so she rather focused on how she liked the soft lighting on her pale body. She slipped her fingers into her wet folds, moaning loudly at the contact with her clit. She slowly ran her fingers up and down herself, feeling herself grow more and more wet, panting and moaning for more. When she couldn’t hold back any longer, she circled her clit tightly, with the perfect amount of pressure, and pushed her left hand further up into the pillows, letting her imagination take her away with the thought of someone holding her down and playing with her pussy until she felt the waves of her orgasm crash over her, leaving her writhing and moaning through her orgasm. She fell back to the bed, out of breath and enjoying her orgasmic-high, and fell sleep quickly, her naked body still on display for the red eyes she did not notice from the apartment across.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to those of you who have read up until this point!  
> This is the first time I am publishing my own work and it feels incredible to just have people read my stuff!  
> Leave comments, I'd love to know what you think!
> 
> x

Derek POV

 

To say Derek was fuming was an understatement. He had gotten back from a run to see Lydia, Scott and Isaac walking back from what could only be Stiles’ apartment, discussing him, of all things. He stood at the door to their apartment, arms across his chest, glaring at them until one of them thought to look up and noticed him. Recognition. Fear. Smugness. The fact that they appeared on Scott, Isaac and Lydia, in that order should have probably told him something.

“So, just explain to me why the fuck you can go there, but I can’t?” He glared at Lydia, but she simply squeezed past him into the apartment, not even considering she should answer him. Derek turned heel and followed her into the kitchen, where she grabbed the food delivery menu. ‘One of these days someone should learn to cook. Or not. Werewolves don’t suffer heart attacks. Who cares then.’ Derek thought while he snatched the menu from Lydia, taking pride in her tongue clicking in disapproval, until she snatched it right back.

“Derek Hale, are you really going to act like a petulant 15 year old?” She settled him with a signature look, one he had already seen way too often today.

“Lydia, no. You told me we were leaving this, and then I see you all coming from her house? What did you tell her?”

Lydia looked towards Isaac and Scott, hiding in the doorway still, but they shrugged and avoided her gaze. She sighed.

“Stiles is really nice, and Scott and Isaac like her – “At first, she reveled in throwing them under the bus, until Derek interjected.

“So, they can move in with her, how does that sound?” He suggested too loud, before he stormed off, “really, he is being petulant today,” Lydia muttered under her breath, looking through the menu for something to order everyone.

 

Derek paced the floor in his room, stopping every now and then to scowl toward the door where he could hear his betas shuffling around, getting ready for the evening. Derek had hoped that they would have a second apartment to themselves for this move, but that hadn’t happened yet. ‘Apparently because Lydia is too busy making fucking friends’, he thought murderously to himself. He pulled his shirt off and dropped to the floor to expend some energy -and anger- doing various pushups. He lost count, but knew he had been at it for ages when he stood and stalked over to the bathroom he had to himself. Just before he closed the door, he heard the bedroom door from Stiles’ apartment close -seriously, what the fuck was making him so uneasy he was focusing on EVERYTHING again? He turned to the window, thankful his light was off (he hadn't cared that it was getting dark while he was exercising), and was stunned to see Stiles, standing next to her bed, removing her clothes. He crept closer to the window, even though he could see fine, and watched as she climbed into bed, before he watched her slip one hand under the covers and put the other above her head.

Just imagining what could be happening under those sheets had him going from hard to painfully hard in a second, walking back to his bedroom door to lock it before he shed his pants and practically ran back to the window, just in time to see her push the blanket down, revealing that beautiful body he had seen moments before. His hand went straight to his cock when he saw her continue touching herself, and he was growing drunk on the sounds she was making, wanting nothing more than to make a woman make those sounds himself. He tried to match his own movements to Stiles’ erratic ones, jerking off faster and slower as she did, and he could smell how aroused she was, even across the way, and it was making his head swim with lust. He watched as she arched her back -fuck she is gorgeous- before she moaned so loud during her orgasm that it sent Derek right over the edge, cumming hard into his open fist. He leaned his head against the wall by the window, keeping an eye on Stiles, watching the way she fell asleep still uncovered, before he closed his eyes and walked back towards the bathroom. Fuck knows he definitely needs a shower now.

 ***

The next morning, Derek woke with a start hearing a bang that sounded like it came from his room, but soon realized it was the kitchen. Is he seriously getting MORE uneasy? He thought he would go crazy if this continued. As he stood up, he looked towards his window and saw Stiles’ unmade bed, and the memory of last night came rushing back. He felt so ashamed to have watched her, she didn’t know he was there, she couldn’t have. She didn’t consent and that made Derek sick to his stomach. What made matters worse was the fact that he would have to face her today, to tell her to move out. ‘Sounds too much like a warped one-night stand to me’ he thought as he grabbed a pair of pants to cover at least some of his naked body.

He stalked out of his room, and grunted a greeting to his betas who were drinking coffee on the balcony. ’Fuck, the balcony’, he rushed over to the betas and looked over to Stiles’ balcony, thankful she wasn’t outside in just her hoodie again. Instead, he could see her silhouette inside the lounge, almost as if she wanted to go out but had noticed his betas and was self-conscious to go out too.

“Move. Inside.” Derek looked between the four and marched inside, waiting by the door for them to follow.

“Derek?” Boyd looked at him curiously, not questioning him, but still wanting to know why they had to get off the balcony. Derek just shook his head and locked the door, silently hoping Stiles would be able to enjoy the sun now, as this was probably her last time to do so.

He decided against standing, face pressed up against the balcony glass door or his window to see if she would go out, what the fuck would his betas have to say to that! Instead, he opted for another shower, to prepare to go meet Stiles, and simultaneously kick her out. He couldn’t explain the deep-rooted guilt he felt at that; he had already turned so many people out when they transgressed his rules, without this guilt. She signed a contract, for fucks sake. She should have known better. But he still felt awful.


	6. Chapter 6

Stiles POV  


Stiles woke with a start, and she was absolutely fucking freezing. She sat up and realised that she must have fallen asleep after her little session of self-love without getting dressed again. She shivered as she grabbed one of her feet, feeling how cold it was compared to her cold hand. She leapt from bed and ran straight to the shower, taking the time to wash her hair and shave her legs. She wasn’t sure why, but the idea of meeting ANOTHER person, Derek, had her wanting to put a little more thought into her appearance. She sighed as she was enveloped by the smell of her grapefruit body wash, taking the extra time to clear her head and relax a little more.  
When she felt sufficiently warmer, she dried herself off and grabbed her fuzziest and warmest socks and clean pjs, wanting to stay warm before she got dressed. She wasn’t even sure when Derek was arriving.

“I hope Scott comes with,” she told Chaos as he watched her make coffee.

“yes, I know that makes me a wimp, thanks for pointing it out Chaos.” She shot the silent cat a withering look before grabbing her coffee and rushing to the balcony, wanting to soak up the warm rays while she enjoyed her coffee.

“Well shit.” She looked across to the other apartment and saw 4 people sitting in the sun, Scott and Isaac being two of them, a tall black guy with a blonde sitting on his lap, maybe kissing him, maybe eating his face? Stiles didn’t know, but she did know that there was no way in hell she would be going out there with an audience. So, she did what every self-respecting adult would do in the same situation. She stood there, staring daggers at them. Yes, she is mature, why do you ask?

“Robin, why are they there?” She looked down towards the little black dog, who cocked her head to the side in response. Stiles kept looking at Robin, but pointed out the balcony window.

“Them. Why are they outside? I go outside. They stay- “

Her eyes narrowed as she looked towards the balcony, but saw that they had all gone inside, and the door was closed.

“Batman, Robin, meeting, on the balcony. 10 minutes. Please inform Chaos and Calamity. I think we have neighbours.” Stiles nodded once at a sleeping Batman, and opened the door to the balcony, finally enjoying the sun.

A few minutes later, Calamity sauntered outside, stretching her round body and Stiles laughed at the sight.

“You know, when the vet said you being this fat wasn’t a problem, I don’t think he meant you should become totally happy with it!”

She reached over and grabbed the kitten, loving the protesting mewls Calamity vocalised.

“Yes yes, how could I hold such a wondrous creature as if you are an animal and not a wise and gracious cat!” She kissed Calamity’s belly, just as someone knocked on the door.

“Well,’ she said, looking into the kitten’s blue eyes, “who is that?”

She released the cat and walked to the door, not once stopping to think of who it might be. No, she only thought that far when she had wrenched the door wide open, and looked at the face of who must be the worlds most angry (and prettiest) model.

“Shit.” She looked like a fish, gaping mouth, eyes wide.

“It’s Derek.” He looked massively unimpressed, looking passed her at the now waking Batman, until he looked towards Stiles and saw her pjs, at which point the tips of his ears turned pink. “Uh, sorry, I thought you were expecting me, I’ll come – “

“No!” Stiles’ hand shot out and grabbed Derek’s arm, his eyes tracking from her hand on his bicep to her face, and when he made eye contact with her for the first time, something changed. He couldn’t hear the kids a couple blocks away arguing over what Xbox game to play. He couldn’t hear the old guy a few floors up, expectorating in a rather vicious manner. All he could focus on were her eyes, and the feeling of her hand on his skin.


	7. Chapter 7

Stiles looked at Derek (again) sitting on her couch, while she prepared a cup of coffee for them both. Derek had said no, repeatedly, but Stiles was making anyway. She didn’t understand it, but she felt drawn to him, and not in a cliché “oh look at that dangerous looking man in the leather jacket wearing a scowl designed and patented by grumpy cat” sort of way. It was kind of like she felt a magnetic pull, wanting to be closer to him.

“Derek?”

“Hmmm?” He looked over the back of the couch at her.

“Sugar? Milk?”

He sighed. “Stiles, I told you I don’t need coffee- “

“Derek, I have literally already made you a cup, so please can you just play nice and tell me how many sugars you want!” She stared at him until he sighed and rolled his eyes – god she hoped she looked that good rolling her eyes – and muttered ‘one please’ almost low enough she couldn’t hear him. Too bad for him she was a creeper and would probably be staring at him through his window while he slept tonight, so she could definitely hear his answer. That thought, however, only made her wonder where his apartment was.

She smiled at herself as she finished up the coffee, carrying it carefully over to the coffee table, and sitting a little too far away from Derek for her liking, but gees what else was she gonna do, sit in his lap? Tell him she felt a ‘magnetic pull’ to him? He would probably still kick her out and he wouldn’t give her back her deposit or something. Send her to a psychiatric ward. Throw her off the balcony. 'Dammit, adderall...' She made a mental note to remember to take it today.

“So. Uh, thanks for the coffee.”

She nodded.

‘Real smooth Stiles’, she chastised herself.

“Stiles, you-“

“Derek, I-“

Silence.

Awesome. She fought an eyeroll. She had to record herself to see if she looked deranged when she did it, because there was no way in hell she looked as great as Derek did when he rolled those beautiful green eyes… She glanced at his eyes, wanting to fully document the colour, and immediately looked away when she saw he was looking at her. ‘Shit Stiles, what the shit are you doing you shitting shithead?’ Even she was irritating herself, good day!

She jumped up, “I’m getting dressed! Well, not here, of course. And not right now. No. That would be weird. But I will. In my room. There.” She finished off her amazing speech by pointing to her bedroom and immediately felt herself turn bright red, as she saw Derek try hide his smirk from her.

“Ok good chat!” She pretty much jumped over the couch, retreating to her room where she seriously debated bashing her head on her bedside table. Or a wall. Or in the sliding bathroom door. Repeatedly. She promptly pulled her shirt off, and turned around to see that, not only had she forgotten to close her door, but Derek looked up a moment after she looked at him, and he was now looking at her shirtless. Braless. Awesome. She turned as quick as she could, grabbing her boobs and running for the bathroom, she had a bra in there from yesterday, thank god. She put it on and tried to compose herself, aware that she STILL had not closed the door. And she had no shirt. She opened the door slightly, and peeked through the gap, and saw the back of Derek’s head, so he was still on the couch. She crept as quietly as she could to her wardrobe and grabbed a shirt to put on.

“Stiles, I’m sorry but we really need to discuss your pets.” Derek sounded like he was in pain, and Stiles walked over to him to make sure he hadn’t been bitten while she was gone. He looked up when she reached him, and his eyes tracked from eye-level at her stomach, up to her lacy black bra, and then up to her face.

“What are you doing Stiles?” He asked, looking like he was in pain.

“Are you ok? You don’t sound ok Derek.” She looked at him, worried he was sick or something, moving her hand towards him as is she was going to touch his face but changed her mind half way, leaving her hand suspended between his face and her stomach for 4 heartbeats before letting it drop.

Suddenly he stood, and god did he tower over her. She fucking loved that. ‘Wait, what?’ She scolded herself for making it weird. Even in her mind.

“Stiles, do you realise you were standing above me, wearing only a bra?”

Oh.

Yeah.

NO.

 At this point, she had lost the ability to care about anything because of the sheer humiliation. So she nodded. And handed her shirt, which for some stupid reason she still had in her hand, to Derek, looked him in the eyes, and then took her shirt back and put it on. ‘Smooth’, Stiles thought, actually believing that went quite well.

Derek looked up at the ceiling and Stiles could have sworn she heard him growl. Maybe he _was_ sick.

He looked back down to her after she had finished putting her shirt on, and he looked right into her eyes.

“Stiles, you know you- “

“Hey Stiles?” someone knocked at the door.

“FUCK OFF SCOTT!” Derek yelled at the door, where the knocking stopped and the door opened instead.

“Hi Scott!” Stiles waved from behind Derek, where she was standing very close. She may have leaned in and smelled him once or twice, but Derek couldn’t have known.

“Hey Derek, hey Stiles!” Scott walked right past a seething Derek, even Stiles could feel the anger radiating from him, into the kitchen and he looked in her fridge.

“Scott, why are you here?” Scott looked over to Derek and lifted an eyebrow, and Stiles looked up to Derek’s face (wow she was still so close to him) and saw that he was also conversing in some kind of secret eyebrow language. She looked at Scott and wiggled her eyebrows manically, wondering what it all meant, and Scott burst out into laughter when he saw Stiles’ eyebrows.

“Stiles, what are you doing?” He managed to get out between bouts of laughter.

“Well I felt left out, you and Derek were having an eyebrow-yelling-competition and no one asked if I wanted in.” She started walking away from Derek, and added, “I’m going to shower. So. Again. Yeah. Ok bye.”

With that, she retreated into her room, making sure to close the door, and smiled as she ran the shower again. Only when she was under the hot spray did she actually make sense of all the moronic things she had done, and slid down the wall in utter mortification.


	8. Chapter 8

When Stiles finally gathered what little was left of her pride, she knew she had to get out there and face Derek. She put on a pair of jeans and her bra again, looking for another shirt when she got side-tracked by the thought of how stupid she had been acting in front of Derek. She wasn’t so worried about Scott, as he was kind of a clueless kid anyway, he probably didn’t even notice anything off with Stiles. Also, she knew she would probably have embarrassed herself at some point in front of Scott, she had only known him for a day and he had already visited her 3 times! But Derek? No. Also, she fancied the PANTS off Derek, Scott, eh, not so much!

She wouldn’t be surprised if Derek had just left a note telling her to move out and then she wouldn’t see him again. Stiles Stilinski didn’t have such awesome luck when it came to guys, and it certainly meant she would never see a guy like Derek again. Which made her so sad, and she had no clue why, but all of a sudden, she was crying and the next thing she knew, she was being gathered into someone’s arms, she assumed it was Scott. He pulled her close against his chest, and pressed his lips into her hair, all the while humming in a way that made both no sense and all the sense in the world to Stiles, but all she knew was it calmed her down quickly, before she took one last shuddering breath and looked up to Scott’s face.

Except it was Derek.

And he looked so worried?

“Are you ok?” his hands were moving up and down her arms, gripping them enough that she was still almost pressed right up against his chest.

Chest.

Fuck.

She looked down, and yes, still only a bra. What the hell was with her today? Her anxiety spiked again and she tried to pull away from Derek but he just pulled her tighter against him again and held her there.

“What’s wrong Stiles?” He had his lips pressed against her temple and it was so distracting how much she liked the feel of that groomed scruff against her skin.

“I’m wearing only a bra. Again.” It came out in more of a whimper than Stiles would have liked, but she didn’t feel too bad when Derek was holding her.

“Yes, I did notice that. I’m sorry?”

He pulled away just enough to look at her, and added “I heard you crying, and I didn’t know what was wrong, so I came to help you. Why were you crying?”

“Derek, if you haven’t noticed, this is not the first time you have seen me in just a bra today, and, fuck, you also saw me without a bra at all. I am absolutely mortified.” 

She dropped her head down onto his chest and silently revelled in the feeling of his arms tightening around her and his chin resting on her head.

“Stiles, would it help if I left you to get dressed, and I came back later? “

“No, just, uh- “she pulled out from his embrace and walked to the wardrobe, not even bothering to cover herself up, just searching for a warm shirt to wear. She picked a comfy black woollen shirt, and pulled it over her head, feeling a slight jump in her anxiety when the shirt gathered above her boobs before she could pull it down, and then turned to him.

“Derek, I know I shouldn’t have dogs or cats, ok, and I am sorry for that. But I’m not sorry. That doesn’t make sense but I understand ok!” She looked into his eyes, “You can leave, and I’ll pack up my stuff and I’ll be gone in a day.” She looked down to her fingers, where she was picking at her cuticles. It took only a second for his hands to cover hers, stilling their mutilation, and he sighed.

“Ok, but Scott will chew my ear off if I don’t give you the chance to explain further. Apparently, you have a good reason that I needed to hear, but that’s Scott’s opinion, I’m fairly sure you could have told him your dog is a duke and he would be sold on letting you, and them, stay.”

Stiles giggled at that.

“Yeah, Maybe. This is so awkward now though, I can’t even look at you.”

“Ok, so let me arrange for my friends to come over, I know you know Lydia, and Isaac. Scott, of course, and they can bring dinner and you can explain to all of us? Does that make it easier?”

Stiles felt him watching her again. She kind of wanted to just give in and move out, but she also wanted a chance to stay here, not that she had money for next month’s rent but that was tomorrow’s problem.

“Ok. Tell Scott I want Chinese. It’s a long story, if I’m gonna tell you everything, I want sweet and sour chicken with fried rice.”


	9. Chapter 9

“Fuck off Erica!”

“Scott, go deep throat a cactus or something, I want to watch Top Gun!”

Stiles watched this display from her kitchen, both entertained and terrified. Derek looked up at her, and immediately looked away when she caught his gaze.

“Derek, pass me a napkin please.” Lydia looked between Derek and Stiles while she waited for the napkin.

“Stiles, come sit down. We don’t bite. Well, ok don’t sit next to Erica and you will be fine!” Scott earned the punch that Erica gave him, or at least Stiles believed so.

The raucous laughter eased her nerves a little, anxious to get tonight over and done with, whatever the fallout might be.

“Listen, guys, can I, uh, can I explain, you know… Everything?”

Stiles looked at everyone, but deliberately not towards Derek. That made her heart skyrocket and she was honestly worried about having a heart attack or something. Scott immediately calmed down, and everyone followed suit.

Stiles walked to the edge of the couch and sat down on the arm, as far from everyone else as she could get.

She decided now was as good a time as any to destroy the mood. “So, just to let you know, I have a crappy story and I’m sorry but whatever. When I was 17 my dad kicked me out.” She looked down at her fingers and began pulling at her cuticles again. “He, uh, he has a slight, um, drinking problem. And I didn’t, don’t, like it, I guess. So, I give him grief for it. Or, I guess I gave him grief. That was, uh, 5 years ago. And I moved here, to the glorious Chino Hills you call home. Um, it, uh, hasn’t been easy though, because I’m a terrible foster mom and I keep everything I’m not supposed to,” She looked towards the sleeping dogs with a small smile on her lips, before looking back down to her fingers, “and so far, I’ve lived in my car for a total of like 7 months, I think? And we,” she looked towards the dogs,” have all lived in 8 or 9 different apartments, and we were kicked out of all of them. So, I’ll be ok.”

Almost the moment she stopped talking, she was hit in the face with a pillow which sent her sprawling to the floor, smacking her head on the corner of the table behind her couch, and she only felt a second of pain before she passed out.

***

‘Holy fucknuts why are they screaming?’ Just thinking to herself made her head hurt, although she couldn’t remember why. Did she hit herself that hard on the bathroom door this morning? Or was that even today? She tried to open her eyes and groaned when the light burned her eyes, making her head throb.

“Stiles? Fuck I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean it ok?”

“You dolt, Scott, you know you are stronger than she is!”

That must have been Erica, right? Did Lydia sound that caring?

“Derek, you need to just leave her alone. If she has a neck injury you could kill her.”

OK, yeah, that one was definitely Lydia.

“What?” Stiles tried to form another word but that was all she could focus on. “What?”

“Stiles, you need to talk to me, tell us what’s wrong!”

“Derek are you kidding? YOU watched her fall to the floor and crack her head on a table, what do you think is wrong?” Somehow Lydia always sounded so clinical, and did she really hit her head on a table? There goes the bathroom door theory.

“Lydia,” something very close to Stiles growled and it scared her, causing her to jolt and the movement made the pounding even worse. “What?” the rest of her sentence was lost in a groan as the pain somehow started easing.

“Whoa, whadya giv’ me?” She felt like she was floating, and it felt damn nice after all the shouting and the throbbing headache.

“Just, uh, something to take the pain away.”

Derek’s lips must have been mere millimetres away from her ear, and that fact had Stiles’ cheeks turning bright red; she could feel the creep of heat across her face, sure everyone else would see it too.

“Stiles, can you open your eyes?”

Scott sounded close, and anxious, so she slowly opened her eyes, still not really used to the light in the room. Which wasn’t a lot, but it still hurt her eyes, and her head.

“So, remind next time to not invite you people over again.” She tried to make it a joke, but it came out more seriously than she thought, but surely, they all got that it was a joke. Scott helped her up, grabbing her around the waist and helped her onto the couch.

“Stiles, I really am sorry I threw a pillow at you, but I wanted you to stop talking about leaving...”

Stiles had to admit, those damned puppy dog eyes of his had her forgiving him very quickly.


	10. Chapter 10

After assuring everyone that she was fine, and didn’t need to go to the hospital, it was pretty much unanimously decided (with no input from Stiles allowed) that all the girls; Lydia, Erica (definitely the blonde from the opposite balcony this morning), Kira, Malia, and Allison would be staying over for the night. Stiles had no say in this, and really wasn’t sure how she felt about it.

The guys started saying goodnight soon after, with Derek leaving first, after pretty much barking at Stiles that he would come see her tomorrow to discuss the pet issue. With that, he left. The others soon followed, leaving Scott and Allison making out at the front door.

“Shout goodnight when you get into bed, ok?” He seriously must use those puppy eyes on everyone, for everything.

Allison laughed, “Yes, I always do!” She kissed him one last time, before pushing him away from the door and closing it.

Stiles laughed, “He is such an idiot, he makes it sound like he literally wants you to shout to him from bed!”

Allison shot a glance at Lydia, before laughing too.

“Yeah, he is an idiot, he means I should call him, of course. He thinks it’s funny or something when he says I should shout.”

“So,” Lydia was sitting on the couch again, admiring her nails, “what are we going to do tonight?”

Stiles looked around; no one else had an answer so she replied, “Sleep? I was just hit in the face. With a pillow. By your boyfriend.“ She pointed at Allison. “I am tired, so I think sleep sounds perfect.” She looked around, hoping to see faces that agreed, but there were none.

“Stiles, would you like to die?” Lydia looked at her, asked it in such a nonchalant way, that for a moment Stiles was literally terrified that she was about to be murdered.

“No!” She practically yelled, before taking a breath to calm herself.

“Ok, so that means no sleep.” Lydia was back to staring at her nails, while the other ladies were standing around still.

“Come again?”

Lydia sighed, “Stiles, you rejected medical help. We are here to make sure you don’t die. That means, in the event that you might have a concussion, we are keeping you awake.”

Stiles stood, staring at Lydia for a moment, before looking at the others, hoping someone might look as taken aback as she did by the thought of this truly torturous evening of staying up. No one looked bothered in the slightest.

“Fine. I’m having a shower.” Stiles stormed off, leaving the girls to find something to do.

***

When she returned to the lounge half an hour later, she found that it had been entirely rearranged. The couch was pushed up against the wall, and a huge bed had been made in the middle of the lounge, in front of the TV.

“I don’t own that many blankets.” Stiles was stood at the doorway, wondering what the hell was going on. She turned to look at her bed, which she now saw had been stripped bare. Her blankets must have been added to the giant monstrosity in the lounge.

“Don’t worry, we all grabbed our own blankets and brought them here,” Malia piped up from somewhere inside the blanket heap.

“Stiles, come sit down.” Stiles immediately wondered if anyone had ever said no to Lydia, but she was not about to be the first, so she shuffled over to the mountain, and climbed in when Allison pulled the blanket down for her. She was between Allison and Malia, Lydia being on Allison’s other side, and Kira on Malia’s. This was going to be interesting. It was only when the front door banged open so loud a few moments later that Stiles realised Erica was missing, as she was now entering the house with 3 pizzas. ‘What the hell are we going to do with 3 pizzas? We just ate Chinese!’ Stiles thought to herself, watching Erica pass the pizzas to Kira, who in turn passed them down the line, until there was a pizza within everyone’s grasp. Erica pressed play on the DVD player (when the hell did they find time to set that thing up again?) before she jumped into the impromptu bed next to Kira and the movie started playing, and almost simultaneously 3 of the 6 girls groaned.

“Seriously?” Malia threw herself back on her pillows.

“Lydia, you need a fucking hobby. And don’t say this is it!” Erica sounded like she was almost growling towards the end of her sentence, but maybe Stiles had hit her head really hard, right?

Kira just sighed and shoved a piece of pizza in her mouth.

“What’s the problem?” Stiles looked at Malia, who was staring at the ceiling.

“Lydia Martin has an obsession with _The Notebook,_ and now we all have to watch it again. This is my 4th time, and I haven’t even been friends with her for that long.” Stiles watched how Malia was upset, but still not willing to actually fight Lydia on this. Apparently, that answers her question as to whether Lydia has ever been told no.

Allison placed her hand on Stiles’ arm, startling her. “Have you ever seen _The Notebook?”_

Stiles snorted slightly and nodded her head, “it’s actually one of my favourites.”

That earned another groan from the 4 other ladies, while Lydia shot a tentative smile towards Stiles, before they all settled to watch the movie, only pausing when Stiles and Lydia were tearing up, and Allison went to grab them some tissues.

All in all, Stiles had to say that she had a good time, getting to know the girls and fully enjoying human company.


	11. Chapter 11

When the guys arrived back at the apartment, Derek stalked to his room and slammed the door. The guys ignored him for long enough, knowing something was on his mind; they could smell the agitation and _something_ coming off Derek, but eventually they decided to see what his problem was.

When they entered his room, he was doing pull ups from a bar he had installed above the bathroom door.

“What.”

The betas took little notice of his aggressive mood, settling around the room; Scott and Isaac on his bed, Boyd on the floor and Jackson leaning against the bedroom doorframe.

Derek dropped to his feet, turning to glare at his silent betas.

“What the fuck do you want?”

Isaac looked away, and Boyd spoke up. “What’s up with you? You have been gnashing your teeth ever since you told us to bring food to Stiles’ house, that’s not a coincidence."

Derek rolled his eyes, not thinking anyone would have noticed.

“It’s nothing.” He turned towards his bathroom, when Scott rushed to stand in the way of the door.

“Move.” Derek flashed his eyes, and Scott shifted his gaze downward but did not move.

“Derek, talk to us. We need to know what’s wrong.” Derek could see where Scott was coming from, but this really had no effect on his betas at all.

“Just move, get out of my way, get out of my room, and go play in the street for all I care!” He bellowed at Scott, before turning to look at his other betas. “If this affected you in any way, I would tell you, but it doesn’t and it never will. So. Drop. It.” He punctuated every word by looking between Boyd, Jackson and Isaac.

“It’s something about Stiles, right?” Derek never condoned inter-pack violence, but right now he wanted to throw Jackson out the window.

“No.”

“Yes, it does.” Derek looked towards Isaac, who still hadn’t looked up, refusing to make eye contact. It made Derek ashamed to see Isaac so scared to look at him. ‘It’s because I’m acting like his father.’ The realisation hit Derek fast, and he slumped against the wall to the floor, head in his hands.

He could feel his betas shift to surround him; it was in their instinct to protect him, just as it was in his to protect them, and they had no idea what was causing all his anger, and to be honest, confusion.

“Derek, what’s wrong?” Boyd had shifted and was sitting next to him, also back against the wall, and Derek could sense that Scott and Isaac were standing close by, Jackson still by the door.

He knew there was no way he would be leaving without telling them, but by telling them, he had to admit that it was true. Was he even capable of that? What would happen after he admitted it? He desperately wished his parents were alive; he needed their advice in a way he had never experienced before.

His betas sat in silence, knowing he would talk eventually, and sensing the changing emotions from Derek; anger, confusion, that _something_ that no one could place, back to confusion, before he took a deep breath and exhaled the answer; so quickly, it was as if Derek could not hold back once the words began leaving his mouth.

“Stiles is my mate.”

 


	12. Chapter 12

Stiles POV

Stiles woke early the next morning, even though she had only gotten to fall asleep after 3am, giving her a measly 4 hours to get by on, but she was so used to her routine, she couldn’t go back to sleep. She made a cup of coffee, and trying to be as quiet as possible, she opened the balcony door and sat in the sunlight, waking up fully with the cool breeze and warm sun on her face.

She was paying no attention to life around her and missed the movement from the apartment opposite, when Derek opened his sliding door and went to stand on the balcony. When Stiles eventually opened her eyes again, she happened to look across to the other balcony, and made awkward eye contact with Derek, who had apparently been staring at her. Stiles gave him a graceless half wave, which he ignored and, after giving her one last stare, he turned and went into his apartment. Stiles wasn’t sure why that bothered her so much, seeing him actually rebut her greeting, but her face immediately grew hot with anger, and she grabbed her cup and stormed into the house too.

Derek POV

He woke quickly, not sure what had roused him so suddenly, but when he looked at his phone, it was 7am. His betas had kept him up late, (although he would never admit that he was actually unable to sleep, it was easier to blame them), and they had a million and one questions regarding what Derek having a mate meant for them.

He tried to convince them that nothing would change, but they all seemed reluctant to believe that. He knew they would eventually see, as he was adamant that nothing would ever happen between him and Stiles; having had 4 miserable failures of relationships, he felt it was better for him (and the pack, if he is entirely honest) if he just admires women from afar; he knew how awful he had been after his relationship with Braeden had ended, and he didn’t want to put his betas through that again. Also, of all his previous girlfriends, he felt like Stiles would resemble Paige more than he wanted to examine. Derek had loved Paige, and he knew that no matter what his family had said about being in love at 16, he did love her, and if she were still alive, he knew he would have rearranged the stars if she had ever asked him. He felt that same deep feeling towards Stiles, of wanting to impress and woo, but he couldn’t lose someone like that again, because this time it would probably kill him.

He pulled himself out of bed, thinking some fresh air might clear his head of Stiles; having to see her later would make it hard enough, thinking about her now just too much. He knew he would tell her to stay, that he would overlook her having pets, but that was only because his wolf desperately wanted Stiles to be closer. ‘Her living there, in her apartment, is not close enough.’ He thought to himself, dismayed, as he opened the balcony door, freezing at the sudden assault of Stiles’ scent almost knocking him off his feet. She was sitting on her balcony, coffee in hand as he has seen before, with her eyes closed and her face angled towards the sun. He looked at the way she smiled gently, taking tentative sips every now and then. He watched her throat as she swallowed, wanting nothing more than to lick from her collarbone to her ear. He shook himself, angry that he was so weak willed he couldn’t even watch from across the block without imagining her, plaint under his hands. He scowled towards her, knowing it wasn’t her fault but being angry all the same. As he scowled, she looked across, seeing him for the first time. When she waved shyly, he tensed entirely, quickly spinning to enter the house before he ran over to her apartment to grab hold of that hand and kiss her – ‘I’m a fucking idiot,’ he thought to himself as he stopped his train of thought, instead going for a cold shower.

Stiles POV

When Stiles got into the house, she decided if Derek wanted to be so petty, she would beat him at his own game. She went to the kitchen and grabbed the ingredients for pancakes – chocolate chip, because whoever said you can’t have chocolate for breakfast was an idiot – and began beating eggs and milk together, before adding it to salted flour and copious amounts of chocolate drops. She had a couple pans frying simultaneously, smiling at her childish plan, until the girls woke up and staggered to the kitchen.

“Oh my god are you actually making pancakes for us?” Erica’s eyes were wide, which were still dwarfed by her giant smile.

“Yep, so I suggest you get ready or something, and call Scott, Isaac, Boyd and Jackson over too.”

She looked back towards the pans and missed the loaded look the ladies shared, before Malia grabbed her phone and sent a message to the guys, the others going towards the bathroom.

Stiles had made enough batter for 23 pancakes somehow, and the guys arrived just as she placed the last pancake in the oven to keep warm. Allison opened the door, getting a swift kiss from Scott before he practically ran to the kitchen.

“Holy hell they smell so good, I could smell them in our apartment!”

Stiles laughed, “yeah, ok, sure!” She rolled her eyes, “Grab a napkin, I don’t have enough plates, and help yourself to the pancakes in the oven, and the coffee machine has just finished, so grab some of that too.”

She stood back, watching the others grab a couple pancakes each, still bubbling with overzealous joy that Derek had not been invited. ‘I hope this bothers the shit out of him’, she thought to herself, as she grabbed a pancake and a second cup of coffee.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short and sweet, and I hope you like it as much as I do!

When the guys had told Derek that they, and only they, had been invited to Stiles’ for breakfast, he was torn in two. On one hand, he knew he needed the distance, and was glad that Stiles seemed to want that too, for whatever her own personal reason was. On the other hand, he wanted to force his betas to all stay home, make the girls go home too, and march straight over to Stiles' apartment by himself. That second idea somehow ended with Stiles and him enjoying each other’s company, as well as having breakfast together. Derek had absolutely no idea how he even hoped that would actually happen.

Instead, he stayed home, growling at his betas as they left, all shifting apologetic looks towards him as they said goodbye, and Derek stood by his bedroom window, listening to the laughter of his betas and Stiles as they all ate together, standing and sitting around the lounge. He watched until they had all finished eating, stifling a laugh at Jackson and Scott arguing over the last pancake, which was promptly scarfed down by Isaac.

He had grabbed clean clothes and gotten dressed while watching, so he made sure to leave before his betas left Stiles’ house. He stalked across the parking, and took her stairs 3 at a time, before banging on the door a couple times. He heard the silence settle on his betas in the apartment, knowing they would have heard him coming, and when the door opened, he was greeted by a large smile on Stiles’ face which promptly dissolved when she saw it was him.

“Hi.” He was trying desperately hard to keep looking into her eyes, and not down towards her lips.

“Good morning Derek.” She crossed her arms over her chest, waiting for Derek to reply.

“I just wanted to tell you that it's fine. You know. This. The dogs I mean. Not the breakfast. That’s fine too. But you don’t have to move. Just, well, don’t do it again.” With that, he turned and walked down the stairs, intently listening to Stiles’ hitched breathing, and smelling her confusion.

“What?”

He turned around when he reached the bottom of the stairs, looking up at her, and raised an eyebrow in response.

“Why are you letting me stay?”

“Would you prefer it if I changed my mind and told you to move out by the end of the day?” From the looks his betas gave him over Stiles’ shoulder, they heard his heart speed up slightly.

“No, I just asked why. Normal people usually give a reason when asked a question like that, Derek.”

“Stiles, shut up.” He turned around to walk away when she shouted at him.

“Who the hell pissed in your coffee this morning?”

“I haven’t had coffee this morning!” The moment it left his lips, he regretted it immensely, knowing how it sounded, as Stiles had only invited his betas for breakfast and coffee. He could have sworn he saw her lips twitch, before he turned away and hurried home, swearing at himself the whole way. He might have heard her mutter something about that not saying much about his personality, but he chose to ignore it in favour of preserving what little self-respect he still had intact.


	14. Chapter 14

Stiles POV

Soon after Derek and Stiles’ _slight_ disagreement, the betas went home, thanking Stiles profusely for the breakfast, and she smiled, having loved every minute of it. Especially making Derek look like an idiot in front of all his friends. ‘Serves the bastard right.’ Stiles believed she had every right to be upset by the way he pointedly ignored her this morning, and after the change in his demeanour after everything that happened yesterday. What Stiles couldn’t understand, was why he had changed so suddenly. First, he had burst into her room to calm her down when she was crying, and then became so broody and silent while they waited for his friends to arrive with food. When Scott threw the pillow at her and knocked her out, she vaguely remembers him being excessively worried about her, until she got back onto the couch with Scott’s help and he went back to his broody ways. The guy had issues, obviously. And still, somehow, there was a part of her that just wanted to shove her hand down his pants.

She shivered and blushed, shaking her head, focussing instead on cleaning the kitchen. Everyone had offered to help clean, but she told them it wasn’t an issue. Mostly she just wanted to be alone now, she was tired and agitated and needed a nap. And maybe an orgasm. She filled the dishwasher, wiping down the counters as she listened to the dishwasher cycle start. When she was happy with the kitchen, she went to make her bed, having just thrown her blanket and pillows on the bed when the ladies had taken their own blankets before leaving. She felt restless, feeling that she should be doing something, but not sure what. She decided to go for a drive, grabbing her keys and kissing Chaos, Calamity, Batman and Robin on her way out, telling them she would be back in a little while.

She skipped a few stairs on the way down, unlocking her car as she was walking towards it. “What the hell? Who dented my car?” Stiles bent to look closer at the dent in her rear passenger door, massively irritated that someone would dent her car and not leave a note. She sighed and climbed into the car, fiddling with her phone until her music filled the car before she drove off.

Derek POV

Derek had been waiting outside for his other betas to arrive. They had been visiting their respective families, and in Corey and Mason’s case, each others parents. He felt a twinge of self-importance that he had to the ability to make his betas feel safe enough to date anyone, never mind one another, before he smelled Stiles, and hearing her go down the stairs. Mason and Corey pulled up a moment later, and Derek all but dragged Corey from the car, grunting an apology to Mason, and hauling Corey towards Stiles. He saw she was distracted by her car, and made a rash decision.

“Corey, camouflage us, and keep quiet.”

Corey did as he was told, not asking questions, and he held onto Derek tightly as they made their way to Stiles’ car, listening to her complain about a dent in the door. They waited until she was walking towards the driver’s side before opening the door silently and climbing in as quickly and quietly as possible, Derek feeling both pride and a stab of horror that it was so easy to get into Stiles’ car with her. He shook his head, unable to think of that now. He sat silently in the back with Corey, both jumping when her music started playing loudly, before she took off. Derek wasn’t sure why he was in her car, and now that they were moving, he regretted this decision. He was hoping Stiles would stop somewhere, maybe she was on her way to a friend or something, and they would have been able to exit the car and call another beta to come fetch them, but she just drove through the residential streets, singing along to her music, a sense of calm settling over her. Derek couldn’t help but be enthralled by her singing, never having thought she could. He stifled a snort when she tried singing both the words and the instrumental ballads of most songs, but she still did so beautifully.

It was an hour or so later when she returned home, and to Derek’s dismay, only her door unlocked when she took her keys from the ignition. ‘Well, that’s safer for her, I suppose.’ He thought to himself, watching her walk away after locking the doors, and running up their stairs.

“Hi Derek!” Corey had a habit of not letting anything bother him, something that Derek appreciated right now.

“Sorry Corey, I have no excuse for this.”

Corey laughed, “Its ok, I’m sure there is some explanation. Mason has my phone; can you call someone?”

“How will that help?”

Corey looked out the window, for what Derek wasn’t sure.

“If someone goes to talk to that woman, maybe they can steal her key, unlock her car, and we can get out?”

Wow. Derek could have kicked himself as he pulled his phone out and dialled Scott, knowing Stiles trusted him.

“Scott. Listen, don’t tell anyone – fuck Scott, why did you just shout that we are ok? For fucks sake!”

Derek pinched the bridge of his nose, fuming that now the entire pack knew he was on the phone with Scott.

“Just listen Scott. Go to Stiles’ house, distract her, and take her car key, and unlock her car. Don’t fucking ask.” Derek ended the call and put his head back on the headrest, waiting for the inevitable.

Corey nudged Derek when Scott appeared around the building, waving as he loped up the stairs. Derek could have listened to their conversation, but he didn’t have the energy, he just wanted to get out and –

The doors unlocked.

Derek and Corey scrambled out the door, closing it as quietly as they could, Derek hoping Scott would remember to lock the car.

He didn’t.

Derek called his phone again, barking out to lock the car before Scott could even greet him. Derek sighed in relief as he heard the distinctive lock a few moments later, stalking home.

He knew tonight would be a nightmare the moment he opened the door and saw the shit-eating grins on every one of his beta’s stupid faces.


	15. Chapter 15

That evening, Stiles was sitting on her balcony, having finished almost a full bottle of wine, occasionally mumbling about the dick that she now knew lived opposite her. She kept throwing disgusted looks towards his apartment, even though she hadn’t seen him since this morning. The more she thought about him, the more she wanted to see him. Either to punch him or be close to him. Maybe hug him. And deliver a sharp jab to his kidneys. That actually sounded like a fucking good plan right now, and she downed the rest of her wine, not bothering to pour the remainder into her glass, and just chugged from the bottle. The wine was low-alcohol, so she knew she wasn’t entirely drunk, but definitely the right side of tipsy. She made her way into her house, closing the balcony door, before she threw open her front door, trudging down the stairs, and making her way to Derek’s apartment. She stumbled up his stairs, banging on the door she believed was his. An older woman opened the door; the sight of whom sobered Stiles up before she stammered her apologies, and retreated.

Stiles wanted to drown herself when she realized she hadn’t gone up that extra floor, which made her feel like a fool, seeing as she and Derek lived on the same level. She took the stairs again, and after making sure she was positive _this_ was his apartment, she banged on the door, almost sighing in relief when the door opened, an unimpressed scowl on Derek’s face.

“Listen here you cock muppet.” Stiles never said she was an actual lady, and was quite proud of her insult, which was inflated by the sudden raucous laughter emanating from inside the house, probably from Erica.

His scowl only deepened in response.

Derek POV

What he had ever done to deserve this, he wasn’t sure. He had been at it for hours with his betas, dodging their questions and barely tolerating their comments of him being a stalker AND a creep when they found out he had been stuck in Stiles’ car, and now she was outside banging on the door like a mad woman. He opened up, wishing he could cause her to spontaneously combust, as that would fix all of his problems.

‘Apart from that my mate would be dead’, his wolf so helpfully provided.

“Listen here you cock muppet.” Erica lost it behind him, falling to the floor in a fit of laughter, while the other betas were struggling to keep quiet and not laugh too. Derek had no idea what to respond with, which only increased his frustration.

Stiles POV

“You are such a pain in the ass, you know that right?”

That had to be Isaac now laughing with Erica.

“Stiles, you are drunk. Go home.” Derek practically growled at her, trying desperately not to flash his eyes at her.

“No, YOU go home Derek!” Stiles went silent for a moment as she thought through her statement.

Derek just crossed his arms over his chest and lifted his eyebrows, still unamused.

“Derek, tell me what the fuck I did that offend you so much?”

His eyebrows travelled further up his forehead, “You have pets Stiles. Those furry things that live in your house?” Stiles kind of liked this sarcastic side of him.

“No shit, Sherlock. But after that, what did I do?”

He had no response.

“For some unknown reason, you actually comforted me yesterday, and now you are acting as if I am personally responsible for some awful act, which may I remind you, I have NO clue what the hell I did! You are being such a dick to me and I don’t understand why.” Somewhere in her argument, she had begun crying, and angrily wiped at her eyes before she spun on her heel and all but ran home, trying to control her sobs until she was locked in her house. She closed the door, and slid down it, sitting on the floor crying, still having no idea why he was affecting her this much.

A few moments later, a soft knock on her door stilled her crying for a few seconds.

“Go away.” She sniffed, regretting it as she sounded like a typical 5-year-old with a stuffy nose.

“It’s me Stiles.” The fact that Scott had come instead of Derek had her crying harder.

“Wha-what the hell is-“ sniff, “-is my pro-problem? I can’t, can’t stop cr-cr-crying Scott!”

She heard what she assumed was him sitting on the floor on the other side of the door.

“Derek is, uh, different, I guess?”

“Scott,” Stiles groaned, not wanting to actually acknowledge that she was crying because of Derek.

“Stiles, please listen. You know I care about you, and I wouldn’t talk about this if it wasn’t important. Derek is like, well, there is no one like Derek. He smells happy when he sees you, even if you don’t know that.”

“Smells?” Stiles had stopped crying, now more frustrated at Scott’s odd way of talking.

“Yeah, no, I mean like he looks happy!”

“He looked like he wanted to kill me.”

“He looks at puppies the same way, don’t take it personally.”

Stiles laughed at that, and stood up to open the door for Scott. She looked down at him sprawled on the floor, and offered him a hand up, which he took.

“You ok?” He looked worried, so Stiles nodded and gave him a small smile.

“I think I’m just gonna go to bed. I’m really tired.” Scott nodded and pulled her in for a hug, before he went down the stairs, leaving Stiles leaning against the doorframe.

She sighed and went inside, locking the door behind her, heading for a shower.

She was half undressed when someone knocked on her door again.

“Not now Scott,” she called, taking her pants off, but the person knocked again. Stiles groaned as she grabbed her towel, covering up her complete lack of clothes, before turning off the shower and heading for the door. She opened the door, about to tell Scott he was an idiot, when she saw Derek staring at her. She stiffened, making sure her towel covered all of her.

“Hi.” She forced out.

“Hi.” He sounded just as strained, and the seconds passed in an uncomfortable silence, before Stiles spoke up.

“Derek, what can I help you with. As you can see, I was just about to shower.” She levelled him with a look, watching him look down towards her towel again, and back to her face.

“I came to talk.”

“And you thought now was the best time because?” She just wanted to be left alone, and was making sure he knew that.

“Stiles, I’m not angry at you, and you haven’t upset me.”

“Oh, ok. Yeah, that clears it all up! Thanks Derek!” She ended with a wide smile, which didn’t meet her eyes.

“Stiles, I am trying to explain something to you!” Derek almost shouted at her, lifting his arms to put them on either side of the doorframe.

“I don’t want your explanation Derek, I want you to leave me alone!” Three things happened simultaneously. One, she forgot her right hand was holding her towel to her body. Two, she used both hands to push at Derek’s chest (and he didn’t move, like not even an inch), and three, they both looked down her body as the towel fell to the floor.


	16. Chapter 16

Stiles made no attempt to cover herself, slowly looking up towards Derek’s face, who’s eyes were still taking in every inch of Stiles’ body.

She felt a surge of confidence, and started turning slowly, until Derek looked into her eyes.

“Shut the door behind you.” She turned her head, and started walking away from Derek, who promptly closed the door. Stiles could hear the sound of his shoes on the tiles as he followed her, but the sound of her heart almost drowned out every noise in the world altogether. What she was doing, she didn’t know, but it felt right. She entered her room, noticing with a swift glance that the only light in the dim room was coming from her bathroom, where the door was only slightly open. She turned to face Derek again, who was standing in the doorway of her bedroom, breathing deeply. He looked at her eyes again, following Stiles’ movement toward him where she slowly placed her hands on his chest, and drew them up to his shoulders, trying to push his jacket off. He shrugged the jacket off his arms; the sound of their breathing and his jacket falling to the floor were the only noises in the room.

He took a step towards her, slowly reaching out his hand to her, waiting for her nod before he put his hand on her hip, pulling her towards him, until she was pressed against his chest, his other hand coming to rest at the back of her neck, angling her head backwards slightly before he slowly moved to kiss her. The moment his lips touched hers, Stiles became ravenous, gripping her fingers in his shirt, trying to get closer, feeling his hand on her hip move to her ass, followed by his other hand. He swiftly picked her up, deepening the kiss as he put her thighs around his hips, and she moaned into his mouth at the dominance he exhibited. He took the moment to push his tongue into her mouth, groaning when she bit gently on his tongue, before sucking it for an instant.

He moved towards the wall, holding her tightly between the wall and his body, grinding his hips up into her, watching the way she threw her head back and moaned loudly, clawing at this back and shoulders now.

“Shirt. Take it off.” She panted, trying to remove the shirt but having no luck. He moved away from her slightly, just enough that it was only his hands on her ass and the wall at her back that were keeping her up, and that allowed her to bunch up his shirt, pushing it off entirely when he pushed his hips – and straining cock- against her and letting go, leaving his arms free. He used his free hands to reach under Stiles and unbutton his jeans, pushing them down, toeing off his shoes and socks and stepping out of his pants. She used his distraction to nip his neck, and lick his collar bone, before latching onto his throat under his chin, eliciting a filthy moan from him.

He pulled her away from the wall, before tumbling onto the bed on top of her. She lifted her legs more, feeling his cock so close to her aching pussy, the proximity driving her wild. He pushed her further up the bed, spreading her legs as he tentatively licked from her knee to her mound, before trailing his tongue down to her other knee. He kept looking up at Stiles, watching the way she writhed the closer her got to licking her wet pussy, and how she groaned in frustration when he passed over it every time, neglecting it. When she tried to grab his head, he held her hands and forced them onto the bed, stilling their movement, and continued his torment until she was shaking with frustration, the heady scent of her arousal making it impossible for him to not taste her. The moment his tongue flicked her clit, she almost screamed, bucking her hips up before Derek pulled away, waiting for her to calm down.

“Why did you stop?” She looked down at him, a quivering mess, and he took pleasure in seeing what he was doing to her, and he had barely started.

“You have to keep still Stiles, or I’ll stop again and wait until you are still.” He smiled at her, and Stiles suddenly felt like an animal caught in headlights.

She nodded and bit her lip.

He immediately licked her again, listening to her strangled cries, taking pride in how she was trying to keep still; her fingers digging into his hands in her efforts. He could hear she was nearing her orgasm, and slowly pulled away, licking his lips as she looked down at him. He moved up her body until he was above her, and he pulled her knees up so her legs were around his waist, and slowly he pushed the head of his cock up and down the length of her pussy, before he suddenly slammed into her, feeling her orgasm immediately overtake her, her nails clawing into his skin as she wordlessly moaned, and he never stilled his movements, prolonging her orgasm as long as he could.

He slowed down as her orgasm ended, letting her catch the breath that had been wrenched from her. She moved her hands from his shoulders to his head, and pulled up towards him to kiss him passionately, “move, please,” she moaned into his mouth, and he happily obliged, thrusting into her, breathing in her cries of pleasure.

“Fuck Derek, please, don’t stop!” she had hold of his bicep now, the other hand under his arm and gripping at his back, trying to match her movements with his, until hers became irregular with another impending orgasm, and her moans became louder. He shifted slightly, holding his weight on his hands as he pushed himself up, getting a better angle to fuck her, and fuck her he did. He watched as she gripped the sheets, watching her second orgasm crash over her, and he followed with his own when she moaned his name repeatedly in her orgasm.

He continued to thrust erratically as he came, until he fell forward, making sure to hold himself up off Stiles so she could breathe. He stretched the small distance between their lips, and kissed her gently, feeling her fingers snake into his hair, holding him in place.

Right now, he didn’t know how he would ever leave her side again.


	17. Chapter 17

The next morning, Derek woke gently, acutely aware of the small body that fit perfectly into his; his arm wrapped around the tiny waist, the small hands that held his larger ones in front of her face. He enjoyed how she folded into him perfectly, fitting under his chin, her back pressed against his front, the way her ass slotted right into his groin. Her body fit his like a matching puzzle piece when they laid like this.

He pulled away slightly, getting one of his hands free from her grip, and she shifted slightly, laying more on her back now. He raked his eyes down her body, before reaching his free hand out and gently pinched one of her nipples, before taking it into his mouth, feeling it pebble and swell under his tongues ministrations. She let out a soft moan, and he looked up at her still sleeping face. He took his hand and caressed her face, savouring the small moans she made until she woke up.

She looked confused at first, seeing Derek in her bed, before he saw the realisation cross her face, and a silent and strong resolution took its place.

“Good morning Derek.”

“Morning,” he smiled at her, and Stiles noticed how nice it was to see him smile. She looked down her body, seeing for the first time that they were both naked, and that Derek's hand was resting on her upper thigh, gently making circles with his fingertips. She looked back at him, unsure of what to say.

“Is this OK?” he asked. She admired his face before deciding to answer in a way that made sense. She got up, gently pushing him until he laid on his back, and she straddled him, and he placed his hands on her thighs again, gently rubbing up and down, growing harder while looking at Stiles sitting on him naked.

She shook out her hair, and ran her hands from her neck, down her breasts, down her tummy, before settling between her legs, one hand playing with herself, and the other going to grab his cock. He groaned at the sudden feeling of her hand on him, and he found himself bucking into the pressure.

“Tsk tsk Derek, you're supposed to stay still,” she said with a smirk. He growled at her before he could stop himself, and somehow managed to morph it into a more suitable 'human' noise; at least Stiles didn't look too taken aback by it, and he sat up, quickly depositing her on her back in between his open legs, her pussy pressed close to his cock still. He took the time to smirk at her as he ran his fingers across her nipples, relishing the way she moved under his fingers, the noises she made for him. She sucked her lower lip into her mouth, arching her back, needing his fingers to continue manipulating her nipples, which he gladly reciprocated. Her legs tightened around his hips, and he looked up and down her body, so open and visible for him to see. He could see she was already wet, and was gently moving her hips in small circles, feeling his cock move against her and moaning at the contact.

“Derek, please fuck me again” he looked up to her face, making eye contact, loving the way her pupils were blown wide, her hands resting in the bed around her face. He didn't need convincing, and slowly entered her from their position. He grabbed her hips and used the momentum to move her forwards and backwards on his dick, taking his time to build their orgasms. He moved slowly, never taking his eyes off her face, listening to her moans grow louder and louder, until her felt her clench tight around him, the feeling that pushed him over the edge too, trying desperately hard to not howl, and found himself hoping he wouldn’t have to hold back, some other time in the future. He leaned forward , his head on her chest, feeling her arms wind around his neck and shoulders, both gasping and he felt her shivering under him, her orgasm having left her weak which only made Derek preen.

They laid like that for a few moments, until he felt Stiles tap him on the shoulder, and he looked up, raising his eyebrows.

“Now what?” She looked serious, and Derek wasn’t sure what she meant, and she sighed at his apparent expression. “Are you going to still pretend I’m an awful person?” He took a deep breath and sat up, looking at Stiles laying in front of him. He ran his fingers through his hair, before he untangled her legs from his waist and stood up, Stiles following a moment later. “Please don’t ignore me Derek.” He looked at her again, both sensing and seeing her anger. His wolf desperately wanted to take her into his arms and never let her go, but he wouldn’t let himself do it, and steeled his own expression.

“Stiles, I didn’t do this, any of this, so you can feel better about yourself. You were the one who instigated this, both times- “

“Fuck you Derek, I woke up to you touching me!”

“Yes, fine, that’s on me, but you begged me to fuck you.” The look of betrayal on her face almost keeled him over, but he grabbed his pants, putting them quickly, and leaving before she could say something else – his resolve was _this_ close to shattering. As he left, he heard her cry, and it took what little self-control her had left to leave, closing her front door behind him.


	18. Chapter 18

Stiles watched him walk away, and couldn’t stop the rejection from breaking her down. She fell to the floor after the door closed, crying for all she was worth. Hot tears spilling onto her face and the floor as she grabbed her arms, trying to hold herself together. She felt as if he had ripped her heart out, which she knew made no sense as they barely knew each other, and had only had sex twice, but something in her was ripping her apart.

Her breathing quickened, and her head felt like it contained the entire universe within one second, and she knew she was moment away from a panic attack, with no way of avoiding it. She closed the bedroom door while she could remember to do so, keeping her kittens and dogs out the room, before she somehow managed to get into the foetal position on the floor again, forehead on the cold tiles. She tried breathing in, feeling as if the bottoms of her lungs had dissolved, and all the air she was breathing in, all the air she desperately needed, was escaping out the bottom. It still freaked her out; years of attacks and it never got easier. She could hear no noise and it was driving her mad, as she tried to control her breathing, but her broken lungs weren’t ready to cooperate, and she passed out.

She awoke moments later, her body having somewhat relaxed, her limbs heavy and her face still wet with tears. She tried to get up, but had no energy left, and instead pulled the blanket off the bed above her and covered herself, willing the bone aching cold and pain to subside.

***

“We heard you last night Derek, well done!” Erica was grinning from ear to ear when Derek rushed into the apartment.

“Fuck off.” He walked towards his room, before he heard a strangled noise coming from Stiles’ room, and he cast a terrified look towards the balcony door and then his betas, who had also heard.

“It’s a panic attack.” Isaac looked toward the balcony door, his eyes golden.

“Why?” Derek shot, the pack looked at Derek, and then between themselves.

“Well, what did you say before you left? Did she seem ok? I mean, we kinda heard this morning too, it couldn't have ended too badly right?” Scott looked at the others, looking for support.

Derek looked out the door, feeling an immense guilt. “Told her that nothing would ever happen between us.”

The silence (except for the sobs and gasping coming from the apartment opposite the parking lot), was deafening.

“Are you being serious?” Erica stared at Derek with a feral look, which whittled Derek to his core. He turned away, hoping to get to his room, before Erica grabbed his arm. “Derek, tell me you didn’t fuck her and then ditch her? Tell me I misunderstood, please. For your sake.” She looked murderous, but that only fuelled Derek’s own anger.

“So, what, I stay with her, and she gets hurt? Killed? How does that sound better than letting her get hurt now? You forget, she wouldn’t be the first!”

Erica stared at him, aghast, until Boyd piped up, “So why sleep with her?”  


“I don’t fucking know, ok? It’s all I want, it’s all I wanted since I first met her, I know it was a mistake, but I can’t fix that now!” He yelled, flashing his eyes. He grabbed his car keys and ran out the door, desperate for space, and Stiles, but he wouldn’t admit to that.

***

When Stiles woke a few hours later, her body ached, both from the night with Derek and her panic attack. She slowly got up, opening the door for her dogs to come in, or they would scratch the door to shit. She trudged over to the bathroom, deciding on a bath when she felt a tear escape her eye.

The warm water brought life back to her fingers and feet, and she laid in the tub until the water was almost cold, before she half emptied the tub and filled it with hot water. A sudden knock on her window startled her, who the hell could be knocking on her third-floor window? She sat quickly in the bath, straining her ears for another noise, when the window opened, and a second later, a guy was standing looking at her, a kind smile on his innocent -looking face.

“Hi, I’m Theo.”

She stared up at him, feeling for a moment that she couldn’t move, until he dropped one of his hands into the bath water close to her breasts.

“Just moving the bubbles to cover you, don’t worry.” He smiled again, and Stiles felt a sense of relief before she smiled back.


	19. Chapter 19

Theo turned away while Stiles stood out of the bath and grabbed a towel.

“Why are you here? And how did you get up here?” She almost turned away to look out the window but decided against taking her eyes off her visitor, who turned and looked at her.

“I know Derek and his, uh, friends.”

Stiles swallowed, trying not to think of Derek right now. Another attack would knock her out for the night. “So, what are you, a friend of his?” She pushed past him, going to choose clothes in her wardrobe, and was surprised when she turned around to find Theo sitting on her bed.

“I need to get dressed, sunshine.” She watched him laugh, and hated that she enjoyed how his eyes lit up.

“Well, _sunshine,_ go ahead. You won’t be the first woman I’ve seen naked.” He smirked, until Stiles threw the shoe she was holding at him, which he somehow caught.

“Awesome reflexes, please leave my room while I get dressed.” She tightened the towel around her, not wanting a repeat of the night before – ‘dammit don’t think about that Stiles!’ She chastised herself, watching Theo get up, and as he passed, he returned her shoe.

“I’ll make coffee then, you will need something when we start talking.”

Stiles had no idea what he meant, but rushed to change, fearing he would come back. Her father’s words were ringing in her words, ‘ _always make sure you are safe. Always know your exits. Never be caught unprepared.’_ She might hate him, but he was sheriff for a reason. She quickly climbed under the bed, grabbing her duffel bag, where she had a can of pepper spray, and quickly shoved it in her pocket before she got up and went to see Theo in the kitchen.

“No sugar for me.” She grabbed the milk while dictating to him, and he chuckled.

“You could do with something sweet, you seem a little, tense?” He winked, and her earlier relief faltered slightly. She steeled herself and walked over to him, helping finish up the coffee, before grabbing hers and heading to the couch.

“Theo, why are you here? Derek wouldn’t let one of his friends sneak into my house like this.” She sat and faced where he was sitting on the couch, wanting to document as much of this as possible for later.

“I’m not a friend of Derek’s. I said I know him. He has quite a reputation.”

Stiles stared at him, waiting for him to continue.

“See, he stole my friends. People who should have been with me, and not him. First, it was Hayden, then Corey, even Mason. And I ended up with no one.”

“So, what are you telling me, they are all in some polyamorous relationship?”

He laughed, “No! I can say with certainty that you are the only person he is screwing.”

Stiles’ face burned. “Excuse me?”

“I can smell it on you, Stiles.”

“How did you know my name? And what the hell do you mean you can smell it? What can you smell?”

He smiled, and his teeth seemed to be slightly longer than before, “I know a lot about you Stiles, it always makes sense to find out your enemy’s weakness.” Stiles hated where this was going, placing her hand in her pocket to grab the pepper spray. “That won’t help you, _sunshine,_ put the canister on the table.” Stiles froze, hoping she was confused and that he didn’t know, but Theo just smiled. “The pepper spray, Stiles. The same one you took from a bag hiding under your bed, probably given to you by your alcoholic father before he kicked you out the house for killing your mother.” He sat back, watching the emotions wash over Stiles’ face, the most prominent being utter terror. “The pepper spray, Stiles.” She slowly took her hand out her pocket, holding the canister, and placed it on the table, listening to it clatter to its side, and he smiled again. “Well done. Now, what do you say we get this started?” Stiles barely had a second to react when he lunged towards her, placing his hand over her nose and mouth before his eyes turned gold and his teeth became longer, and he howled.

***

Derek’s phone started ringing, and he ignored it again. That was 7 calls from Scott. When Lydia called next, her pulled over, hoping he wasn’t about to be chewed out by her too.

“Ly- “

“Theo has Stiles.”

Derek’s breathing stopped for a few seconds, forcing his eyes to recede from red to his normal green, and took a shaky breath.”

“Where?”

“Her house.”

He roared, thrashing against the steering wheel, “WHAT? YOU LET HIM GET TO HER?” He couldn’t control his anger, and shoved the car into gear and raced home; towards Stiles.

“No, Derek we didn’t know he was here, you would have smelled him! We only know he is here because he howled.”

Derek’s foot faltered on the accelerator, before it compressed the peddle entirely, desperate to get there faster. “Then what happened?”

“Nothing, we ran over and he told us not to enter, or he would kill her. He wants you.”

Derek howled in agony; the knowledge that he was the reason Stiles was now involved in something she didn’t even know about; she might die and it was all his fault and it was ripping him apart. He turned another corner, ignoring the changing light and the screeching of the car next to him, and raced into the parking lot, leaving the car outside of Stiles’ block, running up the stairs. He growled when he saw silhouettes against her door, but settled when he smelled pack.

“Derek, only you can come in.” Theo was in her house, and Derek could hear her heart beating, but she didn’t say a word. He pushed between his betas, and made a point of loudly telling them to stay outside. He hoped they had a plan, because all he could think of was ‘Stiles’ on repeat, his wolf bristling at the thought of her being hurt by Theo, of being touched by someone not him.

He pushed the door open, and closed it swiftly behind him, seeing Theo standing next to the couch, where Stiles was laying, appearing to be asleep.

“It’s so easy to get rohypnol and other drugs these days, even easier to administer it.” Theo looked down at Stiles and brushed her hair from her face, and while Derek wanted to break each and every joint in Theo’s body for touching her, he forced himself to look around. He noted the half empty coffee cup on the table, immediately regretting not talking to Stiles. He regretted leaving the way he did. He regretted that it would most likely be her last memory of him, as he knew he would give his life to save hers. His mate. She deserved more that this though. He looked at Theo, who was smirking at him.

“Sucks doesn’t it, when something you want is taken away.”

“What do you want? Corey? Mason? Hayden?”

Theo laughed, “no, not when I have an alpha’s mate.” He looked at Derek incredulously, “How can you not see that? Keep them, and I’ll keep her.” Derek’s claws grew, the prickling sensation doing little to expend his pure fury.

“No.”  Derek growled lowly, threateningly.

“Oh, ok, sorry Derek!” Theo lashed out, slashing at Derek’s face, “How about this then, I give her back, when you become my beta?” He laughed at how Derek physically recoiled, “It’s either you give me your power, become my beta, or I kill you and I still take your power.”

Derek crouched, prepared to lunge, and Stiles groaned. He immediately shifted, receding his red eyes and teeth, moving towards Stiles, who groggily moved her arm and smacked herself in the face.

“Fugoff cat,” she mumbled, swatting at something only she could see and Derek was worried about her being so disoriented.

Theo took the moment to disappear; Derek being too concerned with touching every bit of Stiles’ skin he could, his pack too busy listening to Stiles through the door to notice Theo's absence, before Derek looked around.

“Theo?” He bellowed, and when no response came, the pack came crashing through the door, in various stages of the shift. He looked down to Stiles, who was looking up to him.

“I catually-catual… I kind of hate you and your pretty face,” she slurred, and Derek sighed a little in relief, and tried not to notice the sniggers from behind him, coming from Scott and Isaac.

“Can you hear me?” Derek leaned in closer to Stiles, searching her eyes, waiting.

“Didya see that thing?” She suddenly shouted, sitting up quickly and headbutting Derek. “Ow Derek!” She fell back, rubbing her forehead, and he smiled a little, wanting this more than everything in his life, everything in the world. The chance to explain.


	20. Chapter 20

Derek paced the apartment, waiting for Stiles to wake up fully. The drugs, whatever Theo had given her, seemed to be wearing off if he smelled her, but she kept waking and sleeping. Eventually after what may have been hours, the sun beginning to set, she stirred, and sat up for the first time.

“Fucking hell, the shit did I drink?” Derek looked her, raising an eyebrow. He did not like the idea that she immediately thought she drank too much. She had her eyed closed, and her fingers rubbing her temples. Derek gazed around the place, he had thrown the contaminated mug away, she had another Batman mug in the cupboard so he hoped she wouldn’t mind.

“Derek?” He looked towards her, and saw he expression turn murderous. “Get out.”

“Stiles, I – “

“No, not ‘I’, you say bye, and you fuck right off,” she stood, swaying, “get out. I never want to see you again.” She stared at him, but he didn’t move. He sighed and sat down, and he could smell the fury that brought. “What the fuck Derek?” He didn’t get up, and instead looked up at her expectantly, before he opened his mouth to show her his fangs. She gasped, hand reaching to her throat, where it covered the bruises Theo had left, but she wouldn’t know that yet.

“What. The fuck. Are they.” She stared, eyes glued to his mouth.

“Teeth, Stiles.” He shook his head, wishing he could also shake his nerves away.

“No way!” He looked up at her suddenly, the enthralled look on her face almost made him laugh, until she rolled her eyes. “I see that they are teeth, you dick, but these,” She bared her own human teeth,” Are normal. Yours? Not normal.”

“Stiles, what do you remember from today?”

She shouted a quick laugh, humourless. “I remember waking up, you in bed with me, you having your way with me, and then you pretty much telling me to go fuck myself and you left.” She looked away from him, but he saw her wipe a tear from her eye, which crushed him. “Please leave.” She spoke to him while facing out the balcony door. “Take your creepy teeth, and go.”

He stood, and grabbed her arm, forcing her to turn around, “listen to me Stiles, you were attacked today!” She fought his grip until he said that, and stilled her movements.

“What?”

“I need to know what you remember.”

“Derek, I don’t remember being attacked.”

They stared at each other, Derek still holding her arm. He watched her gaze down to his lips, and back to his eyes. “Derek?” She whispered his name, and it kindled a spark, igniting them in an inferno of need and lust. He rushed at her, his lips crushing against hers, moving his arms to hold her lower back and ass, pulling her against him. She felt his erection rubbing against her, which drove her crazy. She wound one hand in his shirt, the other going to grasp at his hair. He tongued into her mouth, inhaling her breathy moans, until someone cleared their throat behind them, causing them to jump a foot away from each other, both out of breath. Derek turned, and snarled at Erica who had a triumphant look on her face, one eyebrow raised, looking between Stiles and Derek in turns.

“Having fun?” Erica winked at Stiles, who turned bright red and stormed out the room.

“-fucking idiots who think they own the whole fucking- “ The bedroom door closed, taking her mutterings with her.

“What do you need, Erica.” He turned away, needing to control his raging hard on.

“Just thought you wanted to know that we can’t catch his scent anywhere.”

He turned, eyes red, “and NOW, was the best fucking time you could have told me?” He scowled at her, not that she cared.

“I thought you would have had more sense than try to get with her again, after this morning.” She returned his glower.

“If you didn’t see, she was just as into it Erica!” He tried to keep his voice down.

“Derek, just fucking choose, you want her or you don’t. If you hurt her again like you did this morning? I don’t know anyone would handle that, never mind her.”

He raised his eyebrows, “What do you mean?”

She sighed, grabbing him by the shirt and dragging him out her front door, shutting it behind them. “Derek, she feels something. You said she is your mate, so, wolf or not, she will feel _something_ , she does feel something. Last night wasn’t a quick fling for her, she doesn’t understand why you affect her like you do. Just, make up your mind and stick to your decision.” She turned to go down the stairs but Derek grabbed her.

“How do you know this?”

She rolled her eyes, “are you being serious right now? Call Deaton or something, I don’t want to have this conversation with you.” She slipped out of his grip and sauntered down the stairs. Derek immediately pulled his phone from his pocket, calling Deaton.

“Mr Hale, how can I help you?”

“Deaton, what do you know about mates?”

The line went silent.

“Deaton?”

“Surely your mother…”

“No, Deaton, apparently not, or I wouldn’t be on the phone with you! I know she, Stiles, is my mate, but I don’t know what that means for her.”

“Human?”

“Yes.”

“Hmmm. Well, in my observations, and from what I’ve heard from- “

“Deaton!” Derek growled, not willing to take his indirect answers today.

“Alright, there will have been a moment, a look, physical contact, that’s how you would have recognised her as yours, correct?”

Deaton waited until Derek agreed.

“As an Alpha, your chemo signals are stronger- “

“Deaton, I already said she is human, she won’t be able to – “

“I am well aware of the limitations of the human nose, Derek. Her body, that’s a different story. The human body is an incredible thing, and her hormones would have responded to yours when you first recognised her. She will feel similarly to you, to a lesser extent, until your bond solidifies.”

“Solidifies?”

“Time, physical contact, claiming. Her human limitations mean nothing when it comes to you, and her body will adapt to encapsulate the bond.”

“What does that even mean, Deaton?” Derek was gripping the bridge of his nose.

Deaton sighed over the phone. “It means that she will begin to sense things that only a wolf, such as yourself, can. You will make her stronger, without her having to accept the bite. There will still be limitations, she will not be as physically strong as, say, Malia, but she will develop her own strengths. The important thing is to nurture this bond.”

“What if I can’t? What if I won’t?”

Deaton was silent for a beat. “You have to. She is your mate. Whether you respond to that in a platonic or a romantic way is up you you and her, but you cannot ignore it. It will weaken you, your wolf, your instincts, they will all weaken you.”

Derek absorbed that for a moment. “Deaton, why would I have felt heightened senses when coming back here?

“She was there, in the immediate vicinity, correct? Subconsciously, you would have felt her, but not seeing her, not meeting her, would heighten your senses until you had no choice but to notice her.”

“Thank you, Deaton.” Derek put the phone down before Deaton could reply, and he sat on the top step, needing a moment to decide on his next move.


	21. Chapter 21

_“That won’t help you, sunshine, put the canister on the table.” Stiles froze, hoping she was confused and that he didn’t know, but Theo just smiled. “The pepper spray, Stiles. The same one you took from a bag hiding under your bed, probably given to you by your alcoholic father before he kicked you out the house for killing your mother.”_

“Stiles- “

_“Well done. Now, what do you say we get this started?” Stiles barely had a second to react when he lunged towards her, placing his hand over her nose and mouth before his eyes turned gold and his teeth became longer, and he howled.”_

“STILES!”

_Eyes turned gold-_

“Stiles wake up!”

_Teeth became longer-_

“Goddammit Stiles!”

She woke, terrified, and it only escalated when she saw Derek hovering over her, the memory of HIS long teeth coming rushing back, and she screeched, clawing to get away from him, his eyes widening at her reaction.

“What’s wrong with her?”

“I don’t know Erica, call Lydia!”

“What will Lydia do?”

“Scott, he asked me to call her, how the fuck do I know what she can do?”

“Shut the fuck up, all of you, and get out!” Derek yelled over his shoulder, before looking at Stiles, who had tried to fit her entire body in the corner of the couch, hiding her face. He had moved her when he had come back into her apartment, having heard her crying out from her nightmare, thinking she might prefer waking up to him in neutral territory like the couch, and not where they spent the night. He could hear she was crying in her hands, her heart hammering against her ribs.

“Stiles-“ he reached out to touch her, and she flinched, making him pull his hand back.

“Don’t touch me!”

“Then please listen to me, I won’t hurt you!”

“You are like him, and I know, I remember he hurt me!”

Derek used all his willpower to not growl at his pain that she remembered Theo hurting her. “I will never, never hurt you. I promise!”

He listened to her sobs, feeling entirely out of his depth and clueless as to what to do now, before his phone buzzed with a message. He shot a look at Stiles, seeing her still huddled into herself, before he opened the message.

Lydia:  
>Give her a glass of water  
>>Get a bottle though, don’t pour it, let her do it  
>>>Ask if she wants a blanket or something

Derek:  
<A blanket?

Lydia:  
>Yeah, maybe she wants to build a fort.  
>>Because she might be in shock Derek! Good grief

He chose not to answer, pocketing his phone before jumping up and grabbing a bottle of water and a glass, sitting down on the couch again.

“Stiles, I have water for you?”

“What, so I can be drugged again? No thanks.”

“Well, if it is drugged, you did it, because this bottle is from your fridge.”

She peeked over her arm, looking at his face, and then at the coffee table where the bottle and glass sat. “You drink from it first.” He supressed a smile, before he slowly reached out, keeping eye contact with her, while he took a large gulp of the water, before putting the lid on and slowly passing it towards Stiles, before letting it sit on the couch leaning on her thigh.

“See, I’m fine.”

“Give it a few minutes.”

He honestly felt a twinge of terror at that, had she actually poisoned the water? He shook his head; ‘being ridiculous’ he told himself, remembering that she didn’t know werewolves existed until FUCKING THEO turned up.

“Stiles, I am so sorry.”

She looked at him again, swallowing. “For what?”

“Everything? For Theo, who, may I add, will have his life beaten from him when I find him.”

“Why?”

He looked at her intensely, trying to convey his feelings telepathically, before he took breathe, clenching his jaw. “Because you mean something to me, Stiles. You mean a lot to me, and I had hoped we would have this conversation when things had settled a little.”

“Really? I mean something? I don’t ever recall using someone who meant something to me, but hey, each to their own.” Her eyes were hard as she took a sip of water, before downing almost half the bottle. He watched the way her throat moved each time she swallowed, before she cleared her throat, bringing his attention back to her eyes. “Derek, just please go. I don’t know why you are here, but I know that I don’t trust you right now, one, after this morning, and two, because you, you’re a, a, I don’t know but you are something!”

“Do you trust Lydia?”

She narrowed her eyes. “What?”

“I’m asking if you trust them? They slept here.”

“YOU SLEPT HERE YOU DICK!” She got onto her knees, shouting at him.

“I KNOW! AND I’M SORRY ABOUT THAT!” He immediately regretted how it came out, watching the rejection shatter her face again. “No, Stiles-“

“Derek. Leave.” If he hadn’t known she was human, he would have sworn that she growled at him.

“No.”

She gaped at him, unable to deal with his absolute arrogance, before she pushed at his shoulder (which didn’t move him at all) before she stood up, swaying, before she swatted his hands when he tried to help her.

“Derek, I am asking you nicely, please leave my house.” She stood over him, and he shook his head, getting more comfortable on the couch. “Why won’t you leave?” She yelled, feeling her throat becoming hoarse.

“I will leave when you calm down AND when we can have an actual conversation about this.”

She huffed, before storming off to the kitchen, putting the kettle on.

“ I want coffee. I will be making it, but if you want some, I can make you some,” ‘and throw it at you’, she whispered to herself.

“Please can I have some tea Stiles,” he said, while getting off the couch to walk to her, still trying to keep his distance when he saw the worried look in her eyes. “Do you have any questions you want to ask so long?”

She looked at him for a few seconds, before she turned to the counter, putting coffee and tea in different cups. “What are you?” She didn’t want to look at him as he answered.

“I’m a werewolf.”

Silence.

He let her think that over in, letting her take as long as she needed, but when she had finished brewing his tea and still had not uttered a word, he became restless.

“Stiles?”

“You slept in my bed. Actually, scratch that, you let me sleep, in my bed, with you, a werewolf, and you didn’t think that maybe I would have had a problem with that?” He could hear an undercurrent of an emotion in her voice, it wasn’t disappointment, it wasn’t disgust, nor was it betrayal, but it sounded a little like all three.

“I would never hurt you, you have to understand that Stiles.”

“Well, I thought I understood things, Derek, I thought I understood that you are born, you live a life where you strive for the next happy experience, and then you die. Now, I find out that not only do you live a hard fucking life, werewolves apparently exist, AND I’m surrounded by them!” She went silent, her eyes wide. “The girls.” She took a small step away from Derek, to lean against the counter, holding her weight up.

“Yes, most of them too.” He tried to sound calm, hoping he didn’t sound distant. Fuck knows he was never good at talking, now with her here, all he wanted to do was talk apparently. Among other things.

She looked away, her heart racing again.

“How many of there are you.” It didn’t sound like a question, but a terrified statement.

“Myself, Scott, Erica, Allison, Boyd, Jackson, Isaac, Liam are werewolves.”

“The others?”

“A little more complicated, and I promise I will explain, but not while we stand in the kitchen.” He grabbed her coffee and his tea without waiting and went to the lounge, sitting down,  before Stiles walked in and sat too. She looked at him expectantly, pulling her feet up on the couch and grabbing her coffee. “Lydia is a banshee, it means she can tell when someone is dying. Kind of. Kira is a kitsune, Corey is a Chameleon-“.

“Who is Corey?”

“He was the guy who went in your- wait, you haven’t met him.’” He tried deflecting, noting her raised eyebrow, but carried on. “I’ll actually let everyone explain themselves, that will save time, but I promise no one will ever hurt you.”

She nodded,  not making any remarks, which they both sustained while finishing their drinks while trying to keep for looking at one another.


	22. Chapter 22

Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, someone knocked on the door, stirring the silence. Stiles all but jumped and ran to the door, but it opened slowly before she could reach it, and she watched Scott’s head poke inside, a shy smile on his face.

“Can we come in?”

Stiles hadn’t thought this far, and suddenly realised she would have to listen to them and let them explain, as Derek had begun, or she could tell them to leave, and never come back. She stood unmoving for a moment, believing she had the power to tell them to leave, but knew deep down that something would prevent that. She looked over her shoulder towards a worried Derek, taking in his tense stance, standing slightly away from the couch, his eyes trained on hers, eyebrows furrowed deeply. There was something about _him_ that she still didn’t fully grasp, of that much she was sure. She looked back to the door, where she could see everyone through the now wide door; Scott with Isaac, Erica and Boyd behind them, a flash of red hair every time the wind blew. 3 men she had never seen, wait, make that 4. Kira, Malia, Allison, waving gingerly. She nodded, before spinning around quickly and retreating to the kitchen. It was one thing to share a couch with Derek, but she was devastatingly outnumbered now. She filled the kettle, and flipped the switch before a hand shot out in front of her, startling her, and turned the kettle off. She turned her head, seeing Derek stood close, and he shook his head slightly.

“Don’t worry about making tea, don’t worry about coffee, just please talk to us.”

She studied his face, taking an unsteady breath. This had all seemed easier before everyone was here. He moved away, and motioned with his head to the lounge, where Stiles followed. She stood at the entrance, twisting her hands, taking in all the faces.

“Stiles, please sit. The couch is yours.”

“Derek, I bought that couch, of course it’s mine! What are you saying?” She looked at him incredulously, watching his brows arch.

“I mean, you are going to sit on the couch alone. We will sit on the table, the floor, wherever.”

“I’m not moving.” Stiles’ head snapped to the couch, where Lydia had taken residence in the seat Derek recently occupied, and it brought a small smile to Stiles’ lips; Lydia was Lydia, whatever else she was, Bangle? Beagle? Beechum, that’s what Derek had said, right? She looked at Derek, before making her way to her spot, sitting down and lifting her feet, and watched everyone except Derek sit on the floor, leaning against the TV stand, each other, legs placed in each other’s laps, heads in the crooks of arms or necks; there were no boundaries to getting comfortable. Her eyebrows raised, realising this was the first time she was meeting everyone, altogether, and this behaviour? Decidedly not human. Perhaps her knowing had put down some of their walls. When the girls had slept over, nothing like this had happened, 'apart from the fact that we all shared a giant bed', her brain helpfully provided.

She took a deep breath, and then stalled. She had no idea what to say. Her eyes must have been huge, because Derek took one look at her and mumbled something.

“Right, so, I’m a werewolf.” Erica spoke up, and began pointing down the line. “Jackson; werewolf, Boyd; werewolf, Kira; kitsune, Isaac; werewolf, Scott; werewolf, Allison; werewolf, Malia; werecoyote, Corey; chameleon, or chimera, either works. Uh, Mason, werewolf, or chimera. Liam; werewolf. Oh, and Lydia is a banshee.” Stiles immediately corrected her terminology, almost laughing at herself. “Derek, Alpha werewolf.”

Stiles looked at Derek, “what’s an Alpha?” She kind of felt silly for asking, feeling in her bones that she should know.

“It means that I am the leader, I look out for them.” He lifted his shoulder towards the others.

“It also means,” Erica astutely added, “that he is the one who bit most of us, he is more powerful, he has red eyes.” She looked to everyone, who all looked back to Stiles with a near perfect synchronicity, and they all showed her their golden eyes. Stiles’ jaw dropped slightly, taking in the slight different hues of gold, all incredible. “We are his betas, we all have gold eyes.” Stiles nodded, either too enthralled or terrified to move or speak, she wasn’t entirely sure just yet.

“I wasn’t bitten, being a kitsune runs in the family. My mom's side.” Stiles looked at Kira, still not saying anything.

“I wasn’t bitten by Derek, but I was attacked by a rogue werewolf, an omega. They are the most unstable, the loners. They don’t normally survive.” Allison looked at Scott, “This one didn’t, anyway.”

“I am a chimera, but my powers are like a chameleon, see-“ Suddenly everyone disappeared, Stiles jumped up with fright, standing on the couch, until one by one, each faded back in existence, holding their hands up, until it was only Corey who was missing. Stiles looked around, before she turned back, seeing him on the floor with the others, having never left. She released the breath she didn’t know she was holding, and slumped down the couch, pale and cold.

“Holy crap.” She managed to groan out, eyes wide.

“I am a werewolf, but it’s not because I was bitten at all.” Mason looked around, before adding, with a dazzling smile, “we kind of had a rough year? And, uh, after certain, things? Yeah, I was a werewolf.” He nodded, and looked happy at his contribution.

“Well, thank god you weren’t cryptic about it,” Stiles said, rolling her eyes in the cacophonous laughter from the others that burst out from almost everyone, excluding Derek and Lydia, the latter merely chuckled slightly. She wasn’t sure where her comment came from; she still felt like a deer caught in the headlights of a speeding truck.

“That is kind of tied into Theo,” the gruff answer came from a glowering Derek, the laughter settling almost instantaneously.

Lydia spoke up for the first time, filing her nails. “The short of it, Theo was created, along with Corey, and to a degree, Mason, by a group of sadistic doctors who needed control. They were given their powers without a bite, the issue here being that Theo wants to be an alpha, but he cannot become an alpha, and could not, no matter what the doctors tried. He wants what Derek has, and in order to get that, he has found a way of blackmailing Derek, so to speak, into giving his power to Theo.” Lydia looked expectantly at Stiles, who looked to everyone else, hoping to see a confused face that mirrored hers, but she was met by the same look of determination.

“It’s you, Stiles. Theo knows you are Derek’s weak spot.” Stiles looked back at Lydia, dread filling her stomach, and a strange feeling of space expanding in her head, until she become light headed, and felt a pair of hands grasp her face before blackness consumed her.


	23. Chapter 23

She became aware of hushed voices around her, but she didn’t open her eyes, instead keeping her breathing even and quiet, and listened.

“What are we going to do Derek?”

He made a noise somewhere between a huff and a sign, and Stiles could imagine the eyeroll that accompanied the noise.

“Lydia, I don’t know. I told you that.”

“We need a plan, you need to come up something. Theo will be back – “

“You think I don’t know that?” He sounded like he was pacing, aggression slowly edging into his voice. “I am well aware he will come back, but there is nothing I can do.”

Stiles imagined he was rubbing a hand across his scruff, and decided now was as good a time as ever to ‘wake up’, and turned to face Derek and Lydia, who were standing just outside her open bedroom door. “Hi.” She croaked, feeling weak and confused and a hell of a lot of other stupid emotions.

Derek walked over, dropping to the side of the bed, crouching at eye level with Stiles, who’s eyes opened wide at the sudden movement. “You can’t be alone anymore.”

“Excuse me?” She sat up, turning to face him fully, and sat legs crossed at the edge of the bed, watching Derek look up at her.

“You can’t be alone anymore.” He repeated, and Stiles rolled her eyes.

“Um, my house, my rules?”

Derek lifted an eyebrow, “So I’ll take you to my house, then it's my house, my rules.” He looked at her darkly, almost encouraging her into fighting this.

“Yes, kidnapping sounds like an awesome way to get over this situation. No Derek, screw that. I won’t- “

“Won’t what, Stiles? Accept help? Stay alive?” He ground his jaw, Stiles could only imagine the state of his teeth with all the grinding he does.

“I don’t want to be involved in this, this is all a mess, and I want out! I never even wanted in dammit!” Stiles pushed past Derek and walked out the bedroom into the lounge, seeing the rest of the group sitting around tensely. “Seriously, everyone out. I’m done. I’ve had it. You!” She pointed at Scott. “You should have told me dammit!” Stiles was furious, feeling like this had to be the end. “I mean, werewolves?” She spat, turning around to look at them “Are you seriously all still here?” She watched them all, silent for a few seconds. “GET OUT!”  She was shaking, her fists clenched at her sides, biting the skin on her lip until she tasted blood a second later. “Please leave, I don’t know any of you, good god I slept in the same room as all of you!” She pointed to the girls, “and YOU!” she turned on Derek, “You are an awful person, do you know that?” Derek leaned against the doorframe, crossing his arms over his chest, not saying anything. “Yeah, Mr Silent and fucking broody, don’t give me that look. Lydia said you are the reason Theo came after me, and I have had a shit day, and it’s all because of you!” She had marched up to Derek, poking him in a hard pec, his eyebrow raising as he smirked, making her flustered as she repeatedly poked him, seemingly not of her own accord. “You.” She swallowed, feeling her anger dissipate as she looked into his eyes, that smirk going straight to her navel, and he growled slightly, making her tremble a little, swallowing again.

“You were saying?” He drawled, thoroughly enjoying the smell of her arousal permeating the air, but hearing him talk had apparently broken whatever she was feeling, and her expression hardened, clenching her jaw, before she swiftly pulled her hand back and slapped him, the satisfying noise drowned out by someone screaming.

It took Stiles a moment to realise it was her making all the noise, and the others had surrounded her the next second, a jumble of noise surrounding her as she focused on her finger which was _definitely_ not mean to be pointing in that direction.

She glared at Derek, shaking her head as tears streamed down her face and pushed through the group before she got to her front door, opening it up so furiously it slammed against the adjacent wall, and pretty much slipped down the stairs, somehow still standing when she reached the bottom. Her heart was beating furiously, and it felt like her heart had been moved INTO her finger; every beat of her heart causing an excruciatingly painful pounding in her finger. She stormed to her car, and tried to wrench the driver’s door open. “No fucking KEY!” She yelled, before leaving the car altogether and just walking. She got perhaps 20 steps when a sleek black car pulled up to her, and she slowed to see what they wanted. She peered into the dark window, and it began going down, but it was Derek who was driving. She scoffed before she started walking again, walking to the tree line, knowing he wouldn’t be able to follow.  

“Stiles, wait!” He was behind her, apparently out the car now.

“Leave me alone Derek!” She had turned around to yell at him, and, as luck would always have it, she tripped while walking backwards, and shot out her injured hand to stop her fall, screaming in agony as her weight was applied to her finger, and something really didn’t feel right now.

“No-no…” She hiccupped, not bothering to get up, and began sobbing in the dirt. “Fucking stupid and they knew and – and – you!” She looked up at Derek through tear filled eyes, and he felt massively guilty, knowing she had hurt herself, twice, because he couldn’t stay away. Like right now.

‘Way to fucking go, moron.’ He thought to himself as he slowly crossed the small distance to Stiles, who was still muttering nonsensical things.

“And the cats! Who will feed my cats? NO ONE! Because I’m alone!” Derek tried to not smile at her hysteria, he really did.

“Come, let me pick you up.” He stopped just a little way away from her, waiting for her to say that he could touch her. He needed to be better.

“No.” She was still sobbing, clutching her hand to her chest. Derek sighed before rushing a hand out to her shoulder, and began draining her pain before she could react. She looked in horror from his hand to his face, inches away from hers, and she licked her lips, before she looked away from him. “What are you doing?” She knew it felt better when he was touching her, and she wasn’t sure why, but she did recall a memory from before, hadn’t her pain also begun dissipating then too?

“I’m taking your pain away. I can heal faster. It's a werewolf thing.” His voice was gruff.

“I don’t need, no I don’t want your help Derek. This is all your fault!” Stiles spat the words at him, looking back into his eyes, seeing his turn red for a split second.

“Really? YOU punched me? And it’s MY fault?”

“Yes, Derek, because you are a massive pain in my ass, and you didn’t leave and no one, no one left and -and-” She broke off in a new round of sobs, her head feeling light and her finger not thumping as much, but she was so finished, mentally, emotionally. She let herself fall backwards slowly onto the soil and grass, breaking the contact Derek had with her shoulder, and he frowned, before he grabbed her under her knees, sliding an arm under her back and pulling her up with him, carrying her to his car. She didn’t fight, she just laid limply in his arms, tears streaming down her face.

He placed her in the Camaro, and rushed to the driver’s side, and drove her to the hospital.


	24. Chapter 24

He knew Melissa would be working today, and from the state of Stiles, it was probably best Melissa dealt with her; she had a way with calming those who needed it most. Melissa looked up as the door opened, Derek carrying Stiles inside, her hands sitting in her lap. Derek took a breath as he saw Melissa roll her eyes, walking into a free cubicle, and he followed, placing Stiles on the bed.

“Derek. What is this?” Melissa hissed. It always surprised Derek how she sounded entirely not human, while being entirely human.

“I’m a girl, not a what.”

Melissa and Derek shared a look before looking at Stiles, who was blankly looking up at the ceiling.

“Hi sweetheart, my name is Melissa, I’m a nurse here. Can you tell me your name?” Melissa swatted at Derek as she moved to get a better look at the poor girl.

“-Mhed my finger.”

“Excuse me?"

“Yeah. Twice.” The girl began crying, and Melissa shot a glare at Derek, who didn’t look taken aback and sat down on the opposite bed. Melissa turned to Stiles, smoothing her hair from her face, and moving her head gently to check her pupillary responses, happy to see the girl wasn’t sporting any obvious head injury.

“Sweetheart, can you tell me your name?” She repeated clearly, looking into her eyes as she held her face.

“Stiles.”

“It’s great to meet you Stiles, I’m sorry it had to be in a hospital. Are you in pain?” Melissa began looking at Stiles as she spoke, noting the blue, swollen and definitely broken finger resting on the bed like it was no big deal.

“…red eyes. And Scott, fucking Scott. I will kill him, you know that right?”

Melissa looked at Stiles and smiled slightly, “excuse me?”

“Yeah, I thought, you know, though he was my, my friend.” She got out between sobs, quieting down now, her exhaustion catching up to her. “He lied to me, and Lydia? I can’t remember what she did but it was probably also bad.” Stiles nodded to herself, using her broken hand to wipe her face, crying out at the sharp pain that shot through her hand.

Melissa grabbed her hand, stilling it, and beckoned Derek over with her head. “Her pain.” Derek immediately began draining more, watching Stiles go lax on the bed, settling as the pain began to subside. “Did Scott do this?” Melissa snarled through her teeth, carefully examining the hand, noting a knuckle seemed to be sitting oddly. Definitely needed an x-Ray.

“No, it wasn’t Scott! She is mad because he didn’t tell her about us. She broke her finger when she hit me.” Derek sounded so distant, so utterly cool, that Melissa picked up the patient clipboard next to Stiles’ body and smacked his arm with it.

“Are you serious? You let her hit you?”

“You know, Melissa, I don’t think my exact words were, ‘go for it Stiles, hit me in the jaw and break a finger, I dare you, oh I double dare you!’” Derek growled, staring Melissa down. She didn’t scare that easily, and stared right back at him.

“And then? The dirt abrasions on the heel of her hand?”

He didn’t break eye contact, “that was from when she fell running away from me!”

Melissa took a step back, horror tainting her features, until Derek realised what he said, what it sounded like.

“No, I mean, not chasing, like I ran after her, and she was running away, and she fell!”

“Oh good, that makes it all so clear!” She sarcastically threw at him, waiting for another explanation.

“She left the house, after I saw her finger was broken, and she tried to get into her car. But she had forgotten the key. I knew she needed to have it checked out, so I ran for the Camaro, and when I pulled up next to her to offer a ride, she ran into the tree line. I followed her on foot, and she turned to yell at me, tripped over god knows what, and used the broken hand to break her fall. Then I picked her up and brought her here.” Derek wasn’t sure he had ever said so much at once.

“She is your mate?” Melissa levelled him with a look; he wasn’t aware anyone knew, outside of his betas. Even though Melissa WAS pack, Derek felt uneasy sharing that information, but he also knew Melissa. She would probably have him committed just to piss him off if he didn’t answer, so he nodded once.

Melissa took a deep breath and began sorting Stiles out, getting her in for an x-ray, paid for by Derek, because hell knows he deserved it, and then she, along with another nurse, relocated the second knuckle on the hand, and straightened the bones of the broken finger, Stiles only wincing slightly because Derek had been taking her pain. Stiles laid still throughout the cast being applied, sniffing every now and then, tears silently tracking down her face, her eyes red and puffy. Melissa pursed her lips as she finished up with Stiles, getting a doctor to sign the script for the painkillers before she began sorting out the necessary documentation for Stiles to sign before she left. Melissa entered the room, and saw Derek looming over the bed and was about to call out to him and instead stopped in her tracks in the doorway, watching his hands moving on her face, caressing her from her temple to her jaw.

“I’m so sorry Stiles.” He whispered quietly, and Melissa watched as he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, and she quickly left the room, leaving Derek to his apologies.

About an hour later, Derek walked out the cubicle, looking for Melissa, and she nodded to him, walking to the cubicle.

“Can I please leave?” Stiles was sitting on the bed now, her eyes down to the floor.

“Stiles? How do you feel sweetheart?” Melissa walked over, taking her pulse and blood pressure, before looking at Stiles and sitting on the bed close to her.

“I just want to go home. Please.”

Melissa looked up at Derek who looked lost; he shrugged.  “Sure, let me grab your papers, I’ll be a moment.” Melissa walked out the door quickly, going to the nurse’s station and grabbing the folder. She turned and almost walked straight into Derek.

“She can’t leave.”

Melissa raised her eyebrows, “excuse me? And your professional opinion is required, why?”

“She was attacked, she would be safer here.”

Melissa put her head in her hands and laughed a short, humourless laugh. “Of course, it’s never simple. Sorry, I have no reason to keep her here with a broken finger and wrist.” She raised her hands in response to his expression, “sorry, I really can’t help. You have to sort this out yourself.” She walked around Derek, going to help Stiles get ready to leave. Melissa smiled to herself, calmed that she knew Derek would stay with Stiles, whether he knew it or not. Melissa had taken Derek’s distraction and called Scott, telling him, and everyone else, to find somewhere else to sleep that night, leaving Derek alone and Stiles alone, and she hoped that Derek would do the responsible thing and try talk to Stiles, but this _was_ Derek she was talking about. He wasn’t exactly known for his communication skills.


	25. Chapter 25

Derek helped Stiles into the car, noticing the small flinch she made, but ignored it in favour of making Stiles feel comfortable. He leaned over her, taking the seatbelt with him, locking it – and her – in place. He hesitated before pulling back, and glanced at her, their face inches apart. Stiles was crying again, which he had smelled before he saw, and he didn’t know how to make her feel better. He closed her door, walking around to the driver’s side, and slowly pulled away. He never drove slowly, not in his car. He kept looking over to her, but she remained still, tears slowly tracking down her face, the smell of her sadness filling the car.

“Stiles?”

She made a small noise, which was Derek’s only clue that she was listening.

“Are you ok?”

She slowly shook her head from side to side, a truly minuscule amount. Derek was sure he only actually saw it because of his better eyesight, a human would have missed the movement entirely.

“What can I do? Tell me what you need.” He tried speaking quietly, calmly. He was stunned when she moved her hand across the centre console, palm up, and took too long to react before she looked at him.

“I know that whenever you touch me, my pain goes away.” The explanation sunk Derek’s heart slightly; she didn’t want to hold hands per say, she had just figured out that he could take her pain. He still wasted no time in wrapping his large hand around hers, drawing as much pain as he could. It wasn’t so sharp as before, but dull and demanding. He frowned, not understanding the difference.

“Headache, Derek. I have a headache from dehydration.” He looked at her again, confused, and she sighed. “From crying.” He quickly looked back to the road.

“Are you crying from the pain now?”

Stiles snorted, “no, I’m crying because I’m fucking sad. I just found out that everyone I know, everyone who has been in my house recently, is not human, and now I might die because of that fact, and I just want to go home to my cats and dogs who are exactly that, and I know they love me and I just want my little family.” She finished with a sob, forcing the word out as she ripped her hand from Derek’s, covering her face as she cried. Derek stayed silent as he pulled up to her apartment, wanting nothing more than to tell her that he would never let her die. Stiles practically leaped from the car when the car stopped, gingerly walking up the stairs. He followed, quickly, and stopped the door from closing when she slammed it.

“Go away Derek.”

He took a moment to look at her, light blood stains on her shirt where her torn hand had rested on her lap, her red eyes, quivering bottom lip. He noticed her lip last, his eyes snapping up to hers in time to see them scrunch closed as a new round of tired sobs took over her body. He grabbed her shoulder and pulled her into his chest, which she fought for a few seconds before going lax in his arms, crying against his chest.

“It’s ok, I’m here.”

“I-I don’t want yu-you here.”

He tried to not let it sting, rubbing his hands up and down her back. “That’s too bad, because until someone else gets here, I’m staying.”

She looked up at him, weak anger radiating from her eyes. “No.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “If that’s your argument, it could do with some work.”

“No Derek, I don’t want you here, I don’t want anyone else here, I want you all to just leave me alone!”

She still hadn’t pulled away from him, her hands on his chest. “I’m going to tell you something I rarely share.”

“Not interested, Derek.”

He continued anyway. “You told us your dad kicked you out, why?”

She looked up at him like he was mental, “Why would I tell you?”

“Please tell me, and I will tell you my story. About my family.”

“Derek, I don’t care! You made it abundantly clear that you don’t care about – “

“Don’t say ‘me’!”

“-me.”

They started at each other, with Derek’s arms still wrapped around her, holding her close, and her stomach growled.

“Let me take you for dinner.” He let her go, instead grabbing her by the elbow on her good arm, and tried to steer her to the door.

“Fuck you Derek!” She ripped her elbow from his grip, taking a step back. “I want you to leave. I don’t want to come with you. I don’t want to ever see you again. You are the reason Theo came after me, I want you out of my life!”

“And when he comes back, what then? Because make no mistake, Stiles, he will come back. Knowing Theo, he has no patience and will be back tonight, knowing you are hurt and most likely angry at us, not wanting us around.”

That stunned Stiles into silence for a few heart beats. “So I’ll keep my pepper spray on me.”

“Won’t work.”

“What? Of course it will, it’s police regulation, it’s really strong.”

He shook his head, fighting his eye roll. “Werewolves heal fast, you spray that, he will feel maybe a second of pain, before it’s gone, and he is angrier than he was before you sprayed him. It won’t work, I am telling you that to keep you safe.”

“Safe? Really? You, YOU, want me to keep me safe? Don’t even lie to me Derek.” She stormed off into the house, slamming her bedroom door. He took a deep breath, before he locked the door behind him, pocketing the key. Sure, Theo would still get in, easily, but if Stiles could stay in the house, with him, he could protect her. He pulled his phone out, ordering some pizza to her apartment, and sat on the couch, listening to her ranting in her room. Apparently, the kittens must have been there with her, at least she wasn’t crying though, which made Derek happier.

When someone knocked at the door a little while later, Derek tensed, sniffing to see who it was, and got up when he smelled cheese. He opened the door, grabbed the boxes, shoved the money into the guys hands and shut the door without so much as a thanks, but the tip he got should definitely soften Derek’s gruff manner. He took the pizza to the bedroom door, opening swiftly and placing a box on the bed, while Stiles turned over in the bed to look at him, anger barely permeating through her pain. He walked over to her silently, offering her his hand. She rolled her eyes, staying still for a moment before she grabbed onto his hand like a lifeline, and groaned as her pain finally began dissipating.

“Please eat.” He tried to look at her gently, although he had no idea what that would look like. He had probably never looked at anyone gently since Kate.

“Thank you. For, uh, the pizza? And the pain thing. However that works.”

He leaned over and grabbed her pizza, passing it her.

He sat on the floor against the wall next to the bed, looking at her until she picked up a piece and took a bite, and then began eating too. “My mom died when I was young. Dad likes to get drunk and blame me.” Her voice was small, soft, and entirely heart-breaking. “She, uh, had frontotemporal dementia. Literally nothing I could do to give her that, but it still hurts when he blames me.”

Derek nodded, swallowing quickly. “Thank you, and I'm sorry.”

She shrugged, taking another small bite of pizza.

“Almost my entire family burned to death in our house when I was 17. As werewolves, we get hunted by people, usually families, who think we are dangerous. I fell in love with a hunter, and I thought she loved me. She was older, and knew what to say and what to do to get me to do anything.” He took a breath. This was hard, but it wasn’t as hard as it had been to tell other people. “She burned the house down, which means my family died because of me.”

He didn’t look up, and Stiles’ jaw dropped, before she shook her head. “No, that’s not your fault!” He looked up then, hurt etched deep in his face. “It’s not, Derek. You didn’t light the house on fire!”

“I loved her!”

“What difference does that make?  Did you ever hurt her?” He shook his head before she even finished asking. “Ok, so she was a hunter, right?” He nodded, confused as to where this was going. “Right, ok, so the hunter took advantage of a 17-year-old, surely, as a hunter, she would have tried to hurt your family even if you weren’t involved with her?” She waited for a beat, seeing his frown deepen, his eyebrows lowered. “She wouldn’t have decided to hurt you or not to hurt you, based on whether you fell in love with her or not.” She went silent, finishing up her first slice, letting Derek break the silence when he was ready. She had almost finished her third slice when he finally spoke up.

“I should have known better.”

Stiles laughed, “yeah, sure. At 17, you should have been more worldly and you should have let your actual head, with a brain, guide you.” She looked at him, sincerely, “Derek, it doesn’t change that what she did was awful, to use you like that. That’s on her. Your family? That’s on her too. You were just a pawn in her sick game.” She swallowed, imagining what it must have felt like to lose an entire family, and not just a mother. “I am so sorry.” She whispered, keeping her eyes on small piece of pizza left in her hands, before dropping it in the box and pushing it away. “Derek what's happening between us?” She looked at him, finding him already looking at her, with a strange expression.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, we don’t get along, like at all, except sometimes we do, and then sometimes I literally want you to fall off the face of the earth.” She took a breath, listening to his quiet laugh. “You know it’s true.” She added quietly.

“Do you mind if we maybe go sit on the couch? My ass is going numb.”

She laughed, leaning her head on the wall behind her bed. “Just come sit on the bed, I’m too comfy and warm to move." He wasted no time in jumping up, toeing his shoes off, his jacket hitting the floor a second later, before he got on the bed, sitting on top of the duvet, thinking climbing under it, with Stiles, would be pushing his luck. “What Lydia said earlier, about me being your ‘weak spot’, that has something to do with it, right?” He nodded, and Stiles shuffled back further to the wall, sitting up more.

“As a werewolf, as a born werewolf, I have stronger instincts. Finding a, uh, person to be with is one of the instincts that’s stronger.”

“Like a soul mate?” She looked at him as he spoke, and saw his nod.

“Yeah, I guess that’s a good way to describe it. We actually just call them mates. Stiles, when people fall in love, do you believe that it’s easy to remain in love all through life?”

She thought about that for a moment, before she answered. “No. From what little experience I’ve had with love, it’s hard. It needs work. Like every day. I mean, biologically speaking, once the chemical cocktail of being ‘in love’ wears off, you have to choose, do you move on, find that new cocktail, or do you instead use love as a verb. Doing things that will strengthen your relationship. Physically loving someone, and not relying on good feelings to make everything ok, because they don’t last forever. I don’t know.” She shrugged, looking back at him. His mouth was open slightly, his brows furrowed a little. “What?” She pushed her hair behind her ear, unsure of what the issue was.

He cleared his throat, “nothing, sorry. Uh, but yeah. Mates are kind of like that. You feel a pull to someone, a pull you can’t explain, but it doesn’t mean that you are destined to be together, like love wise, if that’s what you choose.” He would never push himself on her, he knew he could never be like Kate. “I just can’t leave you.”

“What do you mean, I am so confused right now Derek, what the hell does that mean?” She rubbed her temple, her headache coming back. He grabbed her hand, taking her pain as she sighed, eyes staying shut.

“I mean, the fact that we are mates- “

“Wait, what?” Her eyes shot open, looking at him.

“What did you think I was talking about?”

She took her hand back slowly, rubbing it across the back of her neck. “I don’t know, I just thought you wanted my opinion?”

He shook his head a small amount, keeping eye contact. “You are my mate Stiles, which is why we are drawn to each other, but being mates doesn’t mean we have no choice but be in a relationship, we just can’t ignore the bond. It has to be nurtured, in either a friendship way or a…” He trailed off, unable to say the words.

“Romantic way?”

He nodded, glad she understood. They both went quiet; Stiles mulling over the information that they were mates, and Derek focussed on her heart beat, her concentrated scent in her bedding, the smell of her pain coming back. He grabbed her hand again, happy when she didn’t flinch or pull away, and instead gripped his hand too. She looked down to his arm to see the black veins. “How does that even work?”

He shrugged slightly, still taking pain. “All werewolves can do it, born or bitten. We metabolise pain faster, because we heal faster, which means I can absorb your pain, experience it at a faster rate, which drains it from you for a short while.” He shrugged again, still holding her hand, even though he had stopped taking her pain.

“I don’t want you to be in pain.” She sounded wrecked, upset.

“Stiles, it’s no problem, I don’t mine.”

“Yeah well I mind.”

He shook his head, “still gonna do it.” They stared at one another for a moment, Stiles feeling more drawn to him the longer the silence dragged on, until they moved slowly towards one another, pressing their lips together.


	26. Chapter 26

They pulled away a second later, Stiles turning her face away from him.

“What’s wrong?” He ran his thumb across the back of her hand; he wasn’t about to let go first.

“I don’t know. I can’t help but feel like…” She waved her broken right hand around.

“I’m sorry, I know it must be confusing, I shouldn’t have… Whatever you choose, I’ll go along with it, happily.”

She nodded, not wanting to speak up for fear that she may cry again. She pushed away from him, standing on the bed and jumped off the edge, walking to the lounge. He followed, worried she might try leave, but instead she tried to climb onto the kitchen counter. He grabbed her good hand, forcing her to stop.

“What are you doing?”

“I need my paint, it’s on top of the cabinets.” She pointed up to a box, which even Derek wouldn’t have been able to reach.

“Stay here.” He let her go, planning on getting on the counter himself, but she beat him to it, walking past him on the counter as he growled. “I said stay here!”

“Yeah, and?” She grabbed the box, passing to to Derek who only took it to stop her from trying to jump down with it in one hand. She landed on the floor next to him, and looked up at his angry face. “Jesus Derek, it’s only a meter high, I wouldn’t have died if I fell off. Also, I have been climbing on these counters since I moved in, because the moron who designed this place assumes everyone is like 6ft tall. I can’t even reach the top shelf!” She opened the plate cabinet and stretched, on her toes, to prove her point.

“I designed these apartments.”

Stiles turned, looking totally unfazed. “Well, next time, get a focus group of people of a normal height. Or, don’t get upset when said normal height people have to climb the counters on a daily basis.” She took the box under one arm, and walked over to the coffee table, placing it down before she grabbed a dirty jar from the basin and filled it with water, taking it with her to the couch. Derek walked to her, and almost laughed when he saw she was painting her cast, her look of concentration intense.

He sat next to her gently, trying not to jostle her. “Why are you painting it?”

She shrugged, a paintbrush between her teeth. “Dunno, cos it’s white?” She battled to speak around the brush but didn’t remove it.

“Normally, don’t people sign it?”

Stiles stopped and turned to him, whipping the brush from her mouth. “Yes, if you have nice people to sign it. I, however, would probably end up with a bunch of dicks drawn all over it.”

Derek frowned. “You don’t think the pack would write nice things?”

She blinked a couple times, “pack?”

He nodded, “yeah, they are all in my pack. Lydia, Scott, Isaac, Allison, all of them.”

She nodded slightly, mouthing the word ‘pack’. “Well, Jackson would definitely draw a dick. It would be a self-portrait but that’s not the point.”

Derek laughed at that, making Stiles smile as she continued painting with her wrong hand, having to constantly rearrange her left hand to try make sense of how to paint. Derek reached over and grabbed the brush gently, pulling her cast over to him a little. “What are you doing?” She didn’t pull away, which Derek took as permission.

He painted a small Triskelion on the inside of the wrist, blowing it gently so it dried faster.

“What is that?” She looked from the small shape to his face, before he dropped her hand and stood up, turning away from her. She was about to ask what was wrong when he grabbed the back of his shirt and began drawing it up his body, stopping when his tattoo was on show. She quickly tried to take in everything; the tattoo, his incredible back, the way his muscles shifted, before he dropped the shirt and sat down next to her again.

“It’s a triskelion, it’s been in my family for generations. It’s the symbol of my pack.”

Stiles looked, with wide eyes, from the symbol on her cast to his face. “And what does that mean?”

He raised an eyebrow, “hmmm?”

She looked back to the symbol, blush creeping in her face. “I mean, like, if it’s for your pack, why did you paint it on me?”

She kept her eyes down for what felt like ages, waiting for Derek to answer, and only looked up when she couldn’t bare the silence, and blushed when she saw Derek had been watching her. “I told you, being mates, we can’t ignore that. Which means you are pack.”

“But you don’t know me?”

He cocked his head slightly. “Maybe. But we will get to know one another, I told you, you won’t be alone until Theo is dealt with.”

“Why is Theo after me?”

Derek sighed, leaning back. “Theo is technically after me. Remember Lydia said he wanted to be alpha? You become an alpha a couple of ways, and the only ways he will become an alpha is if I give my power to him, or if he kills me.”

Stiles couldn’t believe how calm he sounded at the prospect of dying, and he looked over to her quickly, taking in her distress. “He isn’t going to kill me, and I’m not giving him the alpha spark.”

Stiles swallowed, shifting in her seat. “He won’t leave you alone though. He won’t leave me alone, right?”

Derek shook his head, wanting to reach over to console her, hold her hand, anything. “That’s why I won’t leave alone either. You will always have protection, until Theo is out of the picture.”

“By out the picture, you mean?”

“Dead.”

She nodded erratically. She felt like the room was spinning. Here she was, sitting on a couch, calmly discussing death, calmly discussing someone being killed, as if it wasn’t a big deal. She leaned forward, lifting her legs onto the couch and placed her head on her knees, trying to steady her breathing. She was aware of Derek rubbing his hand up and down her back, and she was sure he was talking, but she couldn’t hear over the buzzing in her head. Derek pulled her towards him, pulling her on his lap and enveloping her in his arms, his lips pressed to her temple, and she was sure he was repeating that she was fine and she just had to breathe. She tried to match her breathing to his, but became more panicked when it didn’t work. She pushed away from him, and slid to the floor, placing her head on the cold tiles, wrapping her arms around herself, trying to hold herself together, until Derek was behind her, his arms replacing hers, and he held her tighter than she was able to, grounding her. He laid with her, holding her against him until she was calm, and wiped the tears away from her face. Derek released one arm, leaned up on it and looked over Stiles.

“Are you ok?”

She nodded, trying to dry her face on her sleeve, her exhaustion hitting her like a freight train. He shifted until he was crouched next to her, and gently placed his arms under her, lifting her to his chest and carried her to bed. He placed her down, pulling the blanket over her before he went to sit in the lounge. Her hand shot out, grabbing his arm weakly, making him stop, looking from her hand to her face.

“Please. I don’t want to be alone.” She whispered, a tear falling to her pillow, and he nodded, walking to the other side of the bed, climbing under the covers with her, and pulling her back close his chest, feeling her relieved sigh as she relaxed.

She was asleep in minutes, but Derek stayed up for hours, just looking at her, feeling her body against his again, and not knowing how to tell her he didn’t want to only be friends, but knowing she had to call the shots. He brushed her hair from her face, smiling at the small content noises she made, the way she held his arm when he wrapped it around her waist. He kissed from her temple to her jaw a couple times through the night, wanting to enjoy this closeness for as long as he could, before he too fell asleep.  


	27. Chapter 27

When Stiles woke, she stretched out gently, feeling an ache in her muscles. It had been a rough few days. The time on her phone screen showed it was only 6:23am, but she had gone to bed early. She sat up quickly, remembering Derek had slept with her again, but the bed was empty. She got to her feet sluggishly, her bones feeling like jelly, and walked through to the kitchen quietly, seeing Derek sitting on the couch, one of her books in his hands. She stopped, unsure of what to do, but he took that decision out of her hands and turned to look at her.

“Are you ok?”

She nodded, saying nothing until he stood up and walked to her.

“Are you sure? Your heart is beating very fast.”

She put her hand to her chest, as if it would help make her heart quieten – or slow – down, and looked up to his eyes, before shrugging.

“I dunno. Feel like I should be waking up soon to find out this has all been a super weird dream.” Her phone began ringing, and Stiles didn’t move, unable to care about who would want to speak to her now. Derek gently moved passed her, to her room to get the phone for her.

“It says Never Ever Answer is calling?” He held the phone out, watching the colour drain from her face before her cheeks blossomed with red in anger. She snatched the phone, declining the call, and threw the phone on the couch as if it burned her. Derek watched this with raised eyebrows, before his eyes landed on hers. “Want to talk about that?” She shook her head, squeezing past him to the kitchen, forcefully turning the kettle on, as if it was the reason HE was calling.

“You want some coffee? I’m thinking adult coffee.” She asked him as she looked through her cabinets, pulling out coffee and cups.

“Isn’t all coffee, technically adult coffee?”

She turned to him, a small smile playing on her lips, her eyes a little less harsh. “Well, fine, then more adult coffee. Adultier.”

“Adultier?” He smirked at her, and watched her laugh a little.

“Yes, adultier coffee. Better coffee. Great for cold afternoons, movies on the couch, or when people call, who really shouldn’t have your number.”

She prepared two cups of coffee, before digging in the lower cabinet for the bottle she needed, grinning happily when she brought it up.

“Amarula?”

She tried to raise her eyebrows to mimic his, but failed. “Yes, Amarula and coffee is like red wine and hot chocolate!”

His eyebrows only raised further, “what?”

She laughed, pouring out some Amarula in each cup, before adding the hot water, stirring them and passing one to Derek, who looked at it as if it might bite him.

“Try it!” She stood so close to him, he could smell her scent over the boozy coffee, and was enraptured by her lip between her teeth. “Derek, god dammit pay attention and try it!” He wasted no time in obeying her, her crazy eyes almost making him laugh. It was good, probably not the best first drink of the morning, but good non-the less. He nodded, taking another sip, making her smile almost from ear to ear. She grabbed her cup, and headed to the couch, almost dropping her coffee when her phone began ringing again. She stared at the phone, her heart beating furiously against her ribs.

“Stiles, who is it?” She didn’t hear him approach her, and he was so close behind her she could feel his body heat.

“My dad.” It came out as a whisper, shaky and weak.

“And you won’t answer because the last thing he said was you were responsible for your mom’s death?”

She nodded, watching the screen turn dark as the ringing stopped. “I don’t think I can forgive him.”

He turned her around gently, grabbing her coffee and placing it with his on the coffee table, before he told her to sit. He sat close, and had his breath knocked out of him when she laid her head on his chest, and hesitated only a moment before moving his arm, trapped between them, and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer. “Maybe he hasn’t forgiven himself either?”

She sniffed, and he immediately smelled her tears begin. She didn’t cry hard, but she cried like someone who was broken, who had had her heart ripped out and stomped on. It made Derek want to throw himself off a cliff when he realised he had made her cry the same way.

He ran his hands up and down her back for a couple of minutes, thinking that maybe this is what people do when others are sad. Hadn’t his mother held him and rubbed his back when he was upset as a kid? He barely remembered ever being sad though, and never hurt.

Stiles stiffened and sat up, wiping her face aggressively. “Jesus all I do is cry at the moment, what the hell is wrong with me?”

He kept one hand on her hip, rubbing circles with his thumb, “you can be upset.”

“No, not over him.”

She grabbed the coffee, passing him his too, before taking a big sip, broken when the phone rang again. She snatched the phone up before she could think it through and answered.

“WHAT?”

Derek heard the silence on the other end, and slightly laboured breathing.

“Hello?” She spoke again, less angry and more confused.

“Stiles?” He sounded exactly as he had 5 years ago, which made Stiles’ heart contract painfully.

“What.” She suddenly sounded dead tired, and Derek moved closer a little, patting his shoulder, hoping she would put her head down again, and his heart soared when she did.

“I, uh.” He cleared his throat. “I wanted to call you. See how you are doing.” Derek could hear the man’s nerves in his voice, although he was sure Stiles wouldn’t be able to hear it.

“Why?”

She had put the phone to her free ear, leaving her other pressed against Derek, and used her free hand to play with the hem of Derek’s shirt before she could stop herself.

“Stiles, I need to talk to you. Can I see you?”

She shook her head slightly as a tear fell to Derek’s shirt, and he immediately lifted his arm to get her to rest against his chest again, caging her in his arms. “How did you get my number?” Her voice was thick with tears, desperate to be shed.

“I’m the sheriff, Stiles, I would stop at nothing if it meant I had the chance to talk to you- “

“You said a lot the last time we spoke, if I’m not mistaken.”

The man took a shaky breath, and Derek was sure he could hear his hand rubbing across his face. “Please, please let’s meet up, and let me explain, I am begging you.”

Stiles was about to answer, to say no, before Derek quickly took the phone from her, stood up, and held it to his ear. “Mr Stilinksi?”

“Who is this?” Anger, how funny.

“Sir, my name is Derek Hale, I am a,” he hesitated for a second, “friend of Stiles. Perhaps – “

“Listen here, I was talking to my daughter, I am not interested in what you have to sa- “

“Sir,” Derek practically growled, looking into Stiles' wide eyes, “you calling out of nowhere has surprised Stiles, and I truly care about her. She will call you back on this number once she has a chance to gather her thoughts.” Derek hung up the call, and switched the phone off.

“Why did you do that?” He looked down to her face, and crouched by her knees so they were almost at the same eye level.

“Because I do care about you Stiles, and whether it be from Theo or your father, I will protect you, make sure you are ok. Right now, I know you aren’t ok.”

She nodded a little, her eyes dropping to her knees. “Thank you, you’re, uh, a really good, um, friend.”

Derek tried to smile, tried to make it look genuine, but is his wolf was howling, his heart beating like a drum in his ears.

Friends, that’s all she wanted to be.


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for the delay, I had family over, and I've been planning a Kitchen tea and Bachelorette party; it's been a crazy month, but I'm here and I hope it was worth the wait!
> 
> x

They sat on the couch for a while, until a knock on the door startled Stiles.

“It’s Scott, don’t worry.” Derek had convinced her to lean against him on the couch again, and he felt her nod slightly, but her heart didn’t slow. She had said nothing since he had sat next to her, and he was ok with her just letting him be close.

“Stiles?”

She cleared her throat slightly, “yeah, come in.” Derek heard how raspy she was, and had smelled (and felt) her crying for a while. He looked at Scott as he entered the room, and almost yelled over whatever Scott was sating.

“Pack the cars. Let’s go to the Preserve.”

Scott’s mouth went slack, before a light blossomed in his eyes, and he closed his mouth with a snap, turning away at almost the same time, practically running down the stairs. Stiles pulled away slightly, and looked up to Derek’s face. “What’s a preserve?”

He gingerly placed a finger on her face, tracing her jaw. “The Preserve is where I grew up. I, uh, haven’t been there in a while. Kind of wanted to hide from my problems?”

She studied his face a little, her eyebrows furrowing. “But now you want to go back?”

He didn’t take his eyes off hers, hoping she understood what kind of leap this was for him. “Yes. Go get dressed. Warm, please. But layered.” He gently pushed her up, standing and grabbed a bag that was by her door, which wasn’t hers. “I had Scott bring me some clothes, I’ll dress in here while you shower?” She took that as her cue and left before he removed his shirt. There were some things she couldn’t deal with today, that being one of them.

She showered slowly, enjoying the water, and may have giggled a few times at how Derek might have been urging her to hurry up. She finally felt more human after washing her hair and finally stepped out the spray, grabbing a towel and walked through the door to the bedroom, a little disappointed that Derek was not in the room. Taking a deep breath, she rummaged for warm, layered clothes, and finally stepped out the bedroom, sufficiently dressed, still with damp hair. Derek smiled at her, which she was sure she would never get used to.

“Ready?”

She nodded, dashing back to the bedroom for a hair band, wrapping it around her wrist.

“You can dry it in the car?”

She turned to him, her mouth gaping. “You have a hairdryer in your car?”

He looked at her incredulously for a moment, before he shook his head with a small laugh, “no, I mean with the AC? I’ll put it on heat for you?”

She nodded the moment she understood, her face flaming bright red, and stumbled past him to the front door, “yup yup, AC, that is perfect, fantastic, great for a good old fashion blow out!” She was halfway down the stairs when she finished rambling, and seriously had to refrain from hitting herself. He touched her lower back, startling her.

“Keep going, get in my car.” She nodded, flying down the stairs and launched into the car to get away from him (and her embarrassment, maybe?) for a few seconds. He threw his bag in the back, and climbed into the driver’s seat, before taking off. Stiles saw two other cars following, and assumed it was Scott and the others, but she settled quickly, taking Derek’s offer and using the AC on high to dry her hair a little, until she chewed her lip and stared out the window in silence, making sure not to look towards Derek. She felt really awkward when she began thinking of Derek telling her father that they were only friends. She sighed, rubbing her eyes almost viciously until white spots danced in her vision.

“You ok?”

Stiles looked at him, and almost cursed when she remembered she wasn’t supposed to. “Yeah, just thinking.” She looked back out the window, resting her head back on the seat.

“Want to talk about it?”

She shook her head, closing her eyes. Derek left her alone, and she had started to enjoy the scenery turning wilder; trees taking place of houses, the wind playing in the leaves. The leaves were mostly burnt oranges, reds and browns, littering the road and the dirt, bringing a more intense colour than Summer ever seemed capable of doing. This had always been her favourite time of year. They took a turn into the trees; Stiles hadn’t even seen the road approaching. Derek seemed to sit straighter, eyes glued to the road, and Stiles noted his knuckles, white, gripping the steering wheel so hard.

It was her turn to ask, “you ok?”

He swallowed, and his eyes flitted to hers. “Not really.”

She nodded, turning slightly in her seat, and faced him a little more. “So, this was always my favourite time of year.” He looked at her quizzically, but she continued. “I love the chill in the air, I love the crunch of leaves under my feet. I love hot chocolate, but not like I love coffee. Coffee is, like, my blood substitute. I couldn’t survive without it. But hot chocolate is amazing.” He nodded slowly, confusion still playing on his features. “Also, if you get too hot in Autumn or Winter, you can just remove a couple layers. In Summer? Yeah, you can’t remove your skin.”

It was silent in the car for a beat before Derek spoke, “skin?”

She laughed, glad she had his attention away from whatever was on his mind. “Yup, skin. Also, crunchy leaves? Probably the best things ever; stand on them, pull them apart, rake up giant piles and jump in them. Endless possibilities!”

Derek stayed silent, and a moment later the car slowed to a stop. He hesitated a few seconds before he got out the car, and Stiles followed.

“Please get everything set up, I’m taking Stiles to see the view.” He stomped away, hands thrust deep into his jacket pockets, and Stiles felt a stab of disappointment that he wanted to alone, until Scott gently jabbed her in the ribs.

“He said you, Stiles, should go with him, Derek, to see the view.” He pushed her forward slightly and she stumbled towards Derek’s frame, disappearing in the tree line.

“Oh. Oh! Thanks!” She called over her shoulder as she jogged towards where Derek had disappeared. “Derek?” She looked around, the thick trees keeping him from her sight.

“Yes?”

She spun to her left, and saw no one. “Where are you?”

“Behind you.”

She spun around again, the crackling leaves under her feet creating a cacophony of noise. He wasn’t there, and she laughed. “Derek, are you hiding?” She heard him laugh a little, and her hair stood on end because he sounded so close.

“Turn around.” She laughed again as she turned slowly, and laughed louder when she didn’t see him again. “Seriously? Where are you?” Nothing moved, and he made no sounds, the tension making her smile. She strained her ears, trying to listen to anything except the bugs and birds.

“Here.” Her heart sky rocketed as his hot breath tickled her ear, and she spun around to face him, a short shout escaping her lips before she could shut her mouth. She looked up from his lips to his eyes, which were staring down at her with amusement. “Come on, you are way too slow.” He smiled at her again before he began walking, and she rushed to catch up with him.

“So where, exactly, are we going?” When he said nothing, she looked over to him, and saw the small smile playing on his lips. “Derek!” She sing songed, trying to get his attention. He kept his eyes glued ahead of them, before his arm shot out and grabbed her, pulling her to his chest with a huff.

“Watch for trees, Stiles, they don’t move out the way fast enough.” She looked behind her, and saw that she had indeed almost walked right into a positively giant tree.

“Oops.”

They walked in silence a little longer, Stiles paying a lot more attention to the trees now, before the trees began thinning, until they were standing on a raised precipice, with an incredible view laid out below them.

“Oh wow, where are we?”

“That’s Beacon Hills, I grew up here.” She looked up towards him, and then back to the town laid before them.

“Where did you live?” She looked from one edge of the town to the opposite, waiting for his reply.

“This way.” She barely caught his answer before he walked away, and she shot after him, following him a short distance until he stopped. She looked around his back (she might have taken her time to admire his broad shoulders) and frowned.

“What’s that?” She walked around him to the burnt-out husk of _something_ ahead of them.

“My family home.” She stopped in her tracks, her mouth falling open, and turned back to Derek, who was looking at the house as if it might bite him.

“What happened?” She spoke quietly, moving a little closer to him.

“Maybe we should get back, I, uh…” He trailed off as he avoided her eyes, and she nodded, walking ahead of him the way they entered the clearing, listening to his directions until they saw the others.

The rest of the day passed with laughter and food, and all in all, Stiles felt so relaxed. As the others were packing up, which she was told to not help with, she dusted her jeans off and walked over to Derek. “I’m gonna go see the view again before we leave, ok?” She looked at Derek who looked worried for a moment.

“Will you find your way?”

She nodded, and pointed to where she had to walk to. “If I don’t find it, I’ll call someone?”

“If you wait, someone can go with you?”

She laughed, “no, it’s fine, I won’t be long.” She smiled over her shoulder to him as she walked into the treeline, keeping as straight as she could, until she saw the sky ahead of her and sighed in relief. It would have been mortifying if she had needed to call for help. She wandered up to the highest rock overlooking the town, now darkened slightly by the setting sun, and sat down, taking a deep breath.

“Having fun?”

She looked behind her to where the voice had come from, but the person was hidden in the darkness of the trees. “Who’s there?”

Theo walked out of the darkness, and before Stiles could make any noise, he grabbed her by her upper arms and jumped off the precipice with her in his tight grip.


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this has taken a lifetime, I have been on really strong pain killers and the stuff I was writing, while doped up, was terrible! I seem to be healing, so hopefully I'll be able to update regularly again!
> 
> x

When the cars were crammed full of the stuff they had brought along, the pack sat around for a while before Derek decided to go check what was taking Stiles so long.

‘Had she said she would come back, or was someone meant to fetch her?’ Derek thought to himself as he got up. “Stay here, call out if she comes back before me.” He briskly walked to the tree line, and soon disappeared. He made his way quickly to the cliff, following Stiles’ scent, and was happy when he knew she had made it, as he passed the tree line onto the cliff, her scent still lingering strongly, but she was nowhere in sight.

“Stiles?” He called out, listening intently for breathing or for a response. “STILES?” He shouted louder, knowing the pack would hear and would come help. He walked around the clearing, searching for something, anything. His heart began hammering his rib cage, getting louder and louder, until he placed the sound as the stampeding feet of the pack, as they breached the treeline.

“Where is Stiles?” Scott looked around expectantly, seemingly oblivious to the wrecked nerves of Derek.

“Oh, I have her in my pocket.” Scott looked at Derek blankly, before Derek bellowed. “If I fucking knew where she was, I wouldn’t be looking for her!”

The others began searching, spreading out in hopes of finding a stronger scent. Isaac jumped off the cliff, honing in on a patch of disturbed dirt, and flinched when he saw drops of blood littering the ground. “Derek, she was here.” He spoke quietly, looking around with wide eyes, before almost jumping out of his skin when Derek landed next to him, his eyes immediately on the blood.

“Stiles!” He cried out, frantically running after the blood trail, barely aware of the others behind him. He ran for only a short while before his brain seemed to catch up, and he turned abruptly, facing the pack. “We need to do something.”

The pack silently looked at each other, before Malia asked, rather exasperatedly, “like what, Derek?”

He clenched his jaw, looking away. “Call someone, Deaton, the police, I don’t know!” He finished by almost roaring into the sky.

“Derek, we don’t even know why she left by herse-“

“I swear to fuck, if you finish that sentence I will rip your tongue out through your ass, Jackson!” Derek stalked towards Jackson, his eyes bleeding red, and watched with almost-joy as Jackson looked down, silent.

“He is right though.” Derek’s head snapped towards Scott, who had his hands raised and was looking away from Derek.

“So what, we go home and ignore the blood here? Really? That’s what you think is best?” He glared at each member, no one making eye contact with the heaving alpha. “We have to find her, she is hurt-“

“Derek, maybe go home?”

Derek wanted to claw his eyes out, but settled on rubbing his hands rather viciously down his face.

“We will follow the trail this side, but if she fell, and couldn’t get up to us, our phones don’t work in the preserve, maybe she went home, hoping we would know to look there?” Derek stared at Scott, slightly taken aback that there was a logical reason for him to go home.

“No, you go home, I will look with the pack.”

“Derek, sorry, but I don’t want to die if I do find Stiles at home.” Scott set his jaw stubbornly, his eyes fierce, which had Derek back peddling quickly.

“Why would she kill you?”

Scott took a dep breath, the others biting their lips, “Not her. Listen, we know she is bleeding. If I go home, and she is there, your wolf will want me dead the moment you smell her blood on me.”

Derek glowered, “no I wouldn’t.”

“Yes, you will.” It was Malia who spoke up now. “You were so pissed when you started spending time with her and she smelled faintly of Scott, you won’t like her scent on him.”

Derek looked around them, suddenly acutely aware that they were wasting time. “OK, whatever. I’ll meet up with you.” He began sprinting away, ignoring the collective ‘where’ asked by the pack. He ran into the tree line, deciding to take his car. If he needed to take Stiles to a hospital, he would need it. He accelerated quickly, the dirt flinging out behind him until his car found enough grip to speed forward. He grimaced as he scratched the underside of his car several times, the slight bumps in the dirt road feeling like mountains as he raced over them. He was definitely going to need to replace his shocks, at least, by the time this day is over. He finally made it to the tar road, shoving the car into a lower gear, the Camaro flinging him into his seat as he raced home. He cut the trip almost in half as he raced through every intersection, desperate to find Stiles.

“Fuck!” He skidded to a stop, vaguely happy that there was no one behind him. He looked around him, so close to home, and immediately wanted to turn back. He exhaled quickly, and pulled over to the side of the road, before getting out the car and looking back the way he came. If Stiles was heading home, one, how would she know what direction to go, and two, Derek surely should have passed her as he sped home. He turned around, looking at the park behind him, his eyes uncontrollably red. He stalked over to a large tree, punching it to expend some of the anger and frustration he felt. The force of the hit split his knuckles, bits of bark stuck in the skin. He didn’t bother cleaning it out, rather keeping the pain as a reminder to try to be calm; as long as the bark was in his skin, he wouldn’t really be able to heal. Maybe he should go home, see if she somehow got home, and if not, he would start the 40ish minute drive back, this time walking. He didn’t even have a clue how long that would take. He turned to his car, immediately his anger flared as he saw someone leaning on it.

“Get the fuck off!” He yelled, but the person didn’t even flinch. He shook his head trying to control the shift, before he approached his car. He didn’t get very far before someone spoke out from his left side. He turned quickly, and saw Theo’s face before he was in agony, electricity flowing through his body, the current so strong that Derek was instantly sure he would never not know pain; that this would never end. He fell to the ground before Theo pushed a hypodermic needle into his neck, the sneer on the bastard’s face was the last thing Derek recognised before the wolfsbane was setting fire to his insides and he blacked out.


	30. Chapter 30

“Derek, you fucker, you better fucking wake up!” Derek became aware of something gently hitting his side, and he opened his eyes, leaving his head resting on his chest. He saw a foot trying to kick him, but barely could make contact with his skin. He groaned, lifting his head and moving it around to click his neck, his eyes shut tight. The air smelled funny, and Derek was sure he knew what the smell was, but his brain wasn’t exactly cooperating right now.

“Derek! Open your eyes! I swear to god I will beat the crap out of you when I get out of this! DEREK!”

He looked slowly towards the other person, feeling like he should know the voice, and heard the way the voice cracked over his name. “Who’s there?” He sounded like he was slurring, and he shook his head a little to clear some of the brain fog.

“It’s Stiles, you jerk!” She sniffed, and Derek was instantly aware that the smell that surrounded him was blood and tears.

“Stiles?” His eyes snapped to her figure, still hidden in the dark room. He blinked, feeling his eyes bleed red, and could see Stiles better. She was only half dressed, her jeans gone and the torn remnants of her shirt hanging around her wrists, which were cuffed together in front of her. “Are you ok?”

“Do I look fucking ok? I want to skin him alive, and then you, YOU are next! You are the most ungrateful bastard I have ever met, and after I get out, I will leave you here to rot and-“

“What?” Derek was stunned for a moment until he spoke up, “what the fuck did I do? I came to help you!”

“Oh god why didn’t I know? Maybe because I am fucking SHACKLED in a dark and fucking cold room, with a monster!” She spat out the last word, and Derek immediately began trying to shift around, needing to see who else was in the room. He realised, belatedly, that his arms were shackled too, but above his head, and his feet were shackled to the floor somehow. He was standing, ‘I wonder when that happened?’, but he must have been shackled to something directly above him, as he could not turn around at all. “Are you even listening?” She yelled at him again, and he focused on her.

“Stiles, calm down, I didn’t do anything!” He spoke loudly, trying to speak over her without bellowing.

“No, fuck you! Oh my god I actually wish he would let me loose so I can, can, I don’t _fucking_ know yet but it will hurt!”

Derek shook his head again, not sure if this was a dream now. “Why are you angry at me?”

Stiles stopped her struggling, her chains no longer clanging together. “Are you seriously asking me that?”

Derek looked up at her again, using his wolf eyes, and quickly tried to take in more information about Stiles.  Her cuffs were attached to a length of chain, which was attached somewhere to the wall behind her. Her body was smeared with a dark substance – blood, his brain provided. He swallowed quickly. The smell of blood was actually overwhelming. Her light-coloured bra and panties were also smeared in places, and Derek wished he could help her cover up. He had no shirt on, his jeans thankfully still in place, and he was chilly. Being a werewolf, he runs hotter than a human, so for him to be feeling the cold means she must have been freezing. “Stiles, who else is here?” He looked around again, listening for a third heartbeat and found none.

“Theo! Who the fuck else would have kidnapped me?” She strained at her chain again, panting from the effort, before she fell to her knees, the smell of blood getting a little worse.

“Are you ok?”

Her response was her crying, and once she started, she didn’t stop. Her sobs echoed off the walls around Derek, tormenting him, and he strained to get to Stiles, to comfort her, maybe warm her up. “Why, why wou-would I be ok?” She sniffed, and used a hand to wipe her eyes. Derek was glad she could move better than him, but she needed to get out of here.

“Theo!” Derek bellowed, regretting it when Stiles flinched and moved away from him quickly, “Stiles, I’m so sorry, I will get you out of here!” He struggled against his cuffs again, but didn’t manage to weaken them at all.

“Theo said to tell you they are wolfsbane? Or have wolfsbane on them? I don’t know what that means, but he said you would understand.” Derek immediately stopped struggling. Theo wanted him to know he wasn’t getting out of this, not without some sort of miracle.

“What has he done to you?” Derek looked at her, watching her move back to where a small pillow was on the floor. She sat on it, trying not to let any part of her body touch the walls, shivering.

“Why do you care.”

“Stiles, I don’t understand why you are so angry at me, I didn’t do this!” Even Derek could see through that, it was his fault. If he hadn’t met Stiles, hadn’t met his mate, she would be fine.

Stiles looked up, slowly, her face contorted in anger. “Don’t you remember sleeping with me?”

After a moment of silence, Derek realised that she wanted an answer. “Of course I do Stiles.” He mumbled, not wanting to think about it and get, uh, effected.

“So you DO remember nailing me into my bed, that’s great to know.” Derek looked down, wishing his growing erection would just fuck off. “What about when you told me that ‘I begged you to fuck me’, and that’s all it was?” Wow, ok, that’s a great way to destroy a boner.

He wanted to hide, he wanted to ignore the conversation, and the hurt that was so blazingly apparent in her voice.

“So fuck you, Derek. You are the worst person I have ever had the misfortune of meeting.” He watched her turn her back to him, grasping her legs as sobs shook her body.


	31. Chapter 31

He listened to her cry for what felt like hours, before a faint noise directed his attention. “Someone is coming.” He spoke quietly, not wanting to frighten Stiles, but she didn’t even move; she didn’t acknowledge that he even spoke. Derek focused on the sounds, which were approaching, until a door was unlocked behind him. He strained to see, but couldn’t, and hated that he was entirely at the mercy of whoever was about to walk in.

Derek heard the buzz of electricity before the light turned on. The florescent bulb flickered into life, and Derek looked at Stiles to check if she was ok. He gasped when he saw that most of the dark marks on her back were massive black bruises.

“Theo! I am going to rip you fucking limb from LIMB!” The door opened, and Derek tried to turn again, not successfully.

“Shut the fuck up Derek.” Theo didn’t even look at him as he walked past, going straight to Stiles.

“If you fucking touch her Theo-“

“What?” Theo looked at Derek with a smirk, “you’re gonna kill me?” Theo laughed as he reached Stiles, grabbing her by the hair and dragging her backwards so she was almost in front of Derek, before he pushed her down onto the floor. She fell onto her back, her head smacking on the concrete floor with a dull thud. She sobbed, but didn’t cry out, she didn’t even move. Her arms were now above her head, her feet pointing away from where the chain was attached to wall, and that made her completely helpless. Theo bent in front of her, smiling up at Derek. “I think we should all have some fun. I can smell a faint arousal in the air, was it you Derek?” He lifted his eyebrows suggestively to Derek, who snarled in response. “Whatever floats your boat dude! Personally, I like to keep the animal out of sex.” Theo pulled Stiles’ legs apart, and she tried fighting before he reached up and dug the tips of his claws into her shoulders.

She cried out, and screamed to Theo, “leave me alone, don’t touch me!” Theo laughed, pulling her further away from the wall by her thighs, and Derek howled when he heard her shoulder pop out of place. She screamed, and devolved into tears and sobs, trying to inch away from Theo to stop the pain in her shoulder.

“Theo, your problem is with me! Leave her out of this!” Derek almost begged, looking down at Theo where he was tracing a claw against Stiles’ stomach before he swiftly got onto his knees, now with his back to Derek. He hovered over Stiles, and Derek snarled again, frustrated that Theo was tormenting her. He couldn’t see what Theo was doing, but stopped moving when he heard the unmistakeable sound of a zip moving. “Theo, don’t fucking touch her!” He yelled, terrified of what Theo had in mind, but he just laughed and ignored him. Derek roared, which didn’t cover up the sounds of Theo jerking himself off, or Stiles’ broken sobs. Derek thrashed, trying to kick out at Theo but not being able to. Derek watched with blood red eyes as Theo threw his head back and groaned, and Derek could hear and smell that he was coming, undoubtedly on Stiles. Derek thrashed again, desperately trying to loosen an arm or a leg, but Theo stood on shaky feet, tucked himself back into his jeans and zipped up, before he turned to Derek and shot him a thumbs up. Derek wasn’t able to formulate words, and could only snarl and snap at Theo, who walked to the other side of Stiles’ body, and looked right into Derek’s eyes as he rubbed his cum into Stiles’ stomach and chest. “I can only imagine how hard this must be Derek, maybe I should give you some information?” Derek just growled again, and Theo walked around the back of him, before Derek felt the electricity pulse through his body. He dropped, his cuffed wrists supporting his weight, and was silent.

“Well thank fuck for that, Derek. Jesus, you need to realise who is in control right now!” Theo struck out and his claws sliced Derek’s side, again and again until Derek was unable to keep quiet.

“So fucking kill me, Theo, and let her go.” Derek gritted out through the pain, but Theo only laughed.

“Oh, I will. But this, right here, is the best way I could get back at you and make you suffer. You took everything from me!” He yelled into Derek’s face, before he turned to Stiles who was curled into the foetal position. Theo grabbed her dislocated shoulder and pulled her to her feet, making her cry out in agony.

“Please, let me go, please Theo!” She cried, trying to shield her shoulder from him, but he grabbed her, turned her slightly, and grabbed the shoulder. He placed another hand under her armpit on her ribs and pulled her arm slightly, her screams echoing around the room until there was a discernible pop and she slumped to the floor, her shoulder back in place.

She didn’t get up, and Derek would have been more worried if her heart didn’t sound strong. “What do you want Theo, please just let her go!” He looked at Theo, almost embarrassed that he was begging, but he would do anything to help Stiles survive this.

“First, keep your mouth shut, and listen to me.” He watched Derek for a moment, making sure he would listen and keep quiet. When he was content that Derek was listening, he paced in front of him. “The day I drugged Stiles? I didn’t only use roofies.” Derek snarled, “Na uh, shut it or I’ll hurt her!” Theo pointed to Stiles’ prone body, she must be unconscious, and he went silent, looking at Theo with murderous eyes. “As I was saying. I used roofies and a special little concoction that, how would you even describe it? Makes everything ok. She still remembered how she felt about you, you still remembered everything, including the night you and her spent together.” Derek was unable to control the snarl that erupted when he saw the smirk on Theo’s face. “Yeah, that’s a touchy subject for you, isn’t it? Well, she knew it all, but she would have felt oddly at peace about it.” Derek wanted to hit his head repeatedly on a wall, that made so much fucking sense! He had honestly believed that she was ok, he should have known that wasn’t right! “So, when I got her here, I gave her the antidote. See, I knew that, if she was civil with you, you would still spend time with her, because let’s be honest, you are so predictable. And then, I knew eventually that you would go back on your word about her being alone, and I’d be able to grab her.” Derek thrashed again, and Theo thrust his hand out and used the giant taser, maybe a cattle prod, to shock him again. Derek grunted through the pain, before he slumped again when the electricity was taken away. “It was so easy, thanks for that. Now, her job is to let you know just how much she hates you, and then I will kill you. I'll kill you both.” Derek was so exhausted, he tried to laugh at Theo but could only pant, and watched as Theo bent over Stiles again.

“No, don’t…” He weakly begged, but Theo stood putting something in his pocket before he pulled out another hypodermic needle and shoved it into Derek’s neck again, and the world went dark.

When Derek woke, he couldn’t have been sleeping for too long, but he found himself on the floor, with no shackles in place. He weakly got up, falling a few times on his way to Stiles. She was also loose, her cuffs gone, along with the chains. He stumbled across the floor next to her, and shook her gently, but she didn’t wake. Theo had left the light on, and Derek saw that her lips were blue, as were her toes and fingers. He gingerly began pulling her onto him, and he moved them both back to where that small pillow was, setting his head down and he held Stiles on his torso, his hands rubbing up and down her back and arms, trying to warm her up. It didn’t take long for him to lose consciousness again.


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't break this up, so enjoy a super long chapter!

When Stiles woke again, she became aware of two things almost instantaneously. First, she was hot, like almost sweating hot, and _THAT_ was an awesome feeling after 2 days of cold; she thought it had to have been about 2 days, simply because of how many times she felt the need to feed the dogs and cats; her poor, starving angels. She was that person who fed animals first, and if there was money left over, she would eat. So, 4 missed meals, had to mean approximately 2 days. Secondly, there was an awful, consuming pain in her shoulder that hurt no matter what she did. She opened her eyes slowly, her head already facing her aching shoulder. She gingerly poked at the joint, hissing at the pain she caused with a simple touch. She grimaced as she tried to move the shoulder, and felt a flood of relief that she could. Good things and all that. She took a deep breath and sat up, and used her hands to steady herself as she did. ‘What the, what?’ She looked down at the warmth beneath her fingers, and total confusion crashed over her until she looked over her shoulder and saw whose skin, who’s _body_ she was sitting on. She slapped at his jeans clad thigh as she jumped up, turning as she watched him wake up, red eyes trained on her until he shook his head, his eyes seeping back to that gorgeous green.

“Stiles?” Ok, listen up body, you have no right to be _that_ affected by a sleep-rough voice, it’s fucking Derek! Stiles chastised herself as she glared at Derek, crossing her arms over her chest. Derek put his head back on the floor, taking a deep breath as he raked his hands down his face. He stood quickly, making Stiles jump, and began stretching out his muscles, the sound of his joints clicking the only noise for a moment or two. “Stiles, we need to –“

“What? Talk? What the hell would you have to say to me that makes any of this ok, hmm?” She smiled sweetly, hoping the sickly-sweet venom in her voice made her sound at least slightly formidable.

Derek stared at her, his brows furrowed before he rubbed his forehead. “Stiles-“

“No.”

“-I need-“

“No.”

“-to ex-“

“No.”

“-plain-“

“No.”

Stiles took a breath to continue her rounds of ‘no’, but frowned when Derek didn’t continue. She looked up at him, immediately feeling like a deer in headlights with the look he was giving her.

“Derek?” Her voice faltered slightly, and she swallowed, her eyes still trained on his ferocious face.

“Derek, why are you looking at me like that?” He didn’t respond, but slowly walked towards her, and she took faster steps backwards to get away from him, until a couple of steps later she slammed right into a wall. “Derek stop!” She wanted to yell, she wanted to stop whatever was happening, but all she could manage was a soft plea. Derek was a step away now and she placed her hands on his chest, hoping to keep him away, but he slapped them down, and she pulled them to her chest, trying to wrap around herself.

“Stiles, we need to talk.”

“Is this before or after you hurt me?” Tears streaked down her face without warning, and she made no move to unlock her arms and wipe them, and instead shut her eyes tight and cried, turning her face away from him slightly, hoping that no matter what he did, he knocked her out quickly. It took a moment to realise that he hadn’t touched her, and she opened her tear-swollen eyes to look at him, and the pain riddled expression on his face. She swallowed thickly, moving against the wall slightly, taking advantage of his distraction to put some distance between them, until she ran to the other side of the room, grabbing her pillow and getting as close into the corner as possible. She knew, had he wanted to still hurt her, her being in a corner was the worst choice, but she didn’t want him to have the advantage of sneaking up behind her. She pulled her knees up as she sat down, the cool wall not feeling too bad on her warm skin now, and she watched Derek turn slowly, before he backed up to the wall opposite her and slid down, keeping loaded-eye contact with her.

“Stiles, do you remember what I said after Theo paid you a visit in your apartment?”

He waited, and while Stiles knew he probably wanted an answer, she had no idea what she was supposed to be remembering.

“I said I would never hurt you. I meant that.”

Stiles stared at him. She did remember him saying that, but… “Why did you get all dominating then?”

His expression changed for a moment, shame flooding his features before he clenched his jaw and looked away. “I thought you'd listen to me better that way.”

She barked out a short, humourless laugh. “Right, so you thought, let me frighten the girl who is already terrified so she will listen to me. Why didn’t I think of that? It’s a lovely plan, surely no way I’d be scared of you too, no way!” She shouted the last word at him, her anger boiling and her fists clenched so tight she could feel her nails biting into her palms.

“Stiles!” Derek was standing in a blink, silencing her again, her arms tightening around her legs. “Fucking hell, I am trying to talk to you-“

“No Derek, all you are doing is scaring me!”

He stopped, noting her heart beating way too fast, her wide eyes, and sat down again, taking a (hopefully) calming breath. “I’m sorry.” He looked at her, hoping to convey that he truly was. She said nothing, so he continued. “I don’t know how to explain this without sounding like more of a dick.” She snorted, but still stayed silent. “Do you, um, remember what Theo did yesterday?”

She looked down, making a point of only thinking of her shoulder, but somehow knew he didn’t mean that. She looked up at him, new tears in her eyes. “Please don’t say it,” she croaked out, and he nodded.

“You know you are my mate, Stiles. And you should know I barely like it when you smell like Scott, when he has spent time near you. Imagine how it must be when-“ He clenched his jaw, and Stiles looked down to where her thighs pressed against her boobs and tummy.

“Is that why he, um, that, uh,” she shrugged, not looking at Derek.

“I think so.”

She still didn’t look up, but nodded, knowing he was watching her. “I don’t want to be your mate.” She looked up now, seeing the distress on his face.

“I know.” He whispered, and she barely heard him. “And I can’t tell you how sorry I am that we are. If I could get you out of this, out of being my mate, I would. I would do that for you.” His eyes never left hers, and she felt so awkward, like he was sharing truly intimate information with her. “I can’t though. What I can promise you, is that when I get you out of here, I will make things as easy for you as possible.”

“What does that mean Derek? Why do you think we will be getting out of this?”

“Hey, you were the one saying you were going to kill Theo and then me, and I _will_ give you that opportunity.”

Stiles laughed, sure; he was making a joke, but she appreciated that he was humouring her. She swallowed again, knowing she needed more from him. “Derek…” she trailed off, looking at him again, before she looked up to the ceiling. “I don’t think,” She took a breath, trying to arrange her thoughts. “What you said, before, I can’t…” She couldn’t continue, the rejection she felt, before, hitting her right in the chest again, along with an insatiable need to hit him, to show him just how much she hates him for doing that, for saying that.

“Stiles.” He sounded so pained, and she looked back at him, playing with her fingers. He ran his fingers through his hair, “I can’t tell you how sorry I am about that-“

“Sorry will never make that ok, Derek.” She was somehow calm,  and it made her feel more powerful  than she had a right to.

He nodded, “how do I fix it?”

She stared at him, slack jawed. Of all the things she had expected, that was not one of them. “Why would you want to fix it?” She was getting angry again, “You literally screwed me over, in every sense of the word Derek!” She got up quickly, not able to sit still. “You don’t even understand how that felt Derek!” She rounded on him, still keeping her distance. Werewolf or not, she was going to give him hell for treating her so badly, and just hoped that he didn’t react.

“Stiles, I am new to all of this!”

That silenced her, and she clenched her jaw. “Really?” She looked down at him, “You are new to what? Having sex with people and then treating them like nothing after? Or are you new to having sex with people, and then having to talk to them again?” She turned away from him, running her hands through her hair and letting a few tears fall before she wiped her face, clearing her throat slightly. “There is nothing you can say that will ever make me forgive you.”

“I know that Stiles.” He was closer now, and she turned to see him, standing few feet away from her. “But maybe I can explain, or try to, I don’t know what else to do!” His eyes pleaded with her, and she almost scoffed at him looking so weak. “Please Stiles, I am begging you.” She looked down, closing her eyes when she saw she was only in her bra and panties. ‘Not exactly a tough look.’ She nodded, and went to sit down again, this time grabbing her pillow and holding it to her tummy as she sat down. He followed suit quickly, sitting in front of her, not moving back to the wall. He inhaled slowly, exhaling quickly and began talking as if he might change his mind. “I told you about Kate, right?”

She nodded, “the one who, your family…” She couldn’t continue, and he seemed relieve that she didn’t.

“Yes. That was a lifetime ago. I have never had a relationship after. There have been women, but I tried to keep them away, distance myself. Then you came along.” She looked at him, seeing that he hadn’t taken his eyes of her. “You and your rule breaking personality.” He smiled a little, and she tried to return it, but she was sure the smile didn’t appear on her face. “You changed what I wanted, what I needed, simply because you exist. And I didn’t, I don’t know what to do about that.” He closed his eyes, putting his head in his hands. “As I said before, I don’t want you involved in this,” he looked up, his eyes slightly wet and pleading again. “You aren’t meant for this life, you don’t deserve this!” He gestured around the room, before they fell to his side. “You don’t deserve me.”

Stiles felt a stab of pain at that comment, but realised that he wasn’t putting her down, he meant he believed she deserved more. She sighed quietly, trying to calm her suddenly fried nerves, and resolved herself. “Derek?” She waited until he looked at her, and she moved a little away from the wall. “Can you uh, can you come sit with me? And we can talk more, but, I’m um, I’m getting cold.” She didn’t even finish her sentence and he had stood up, walking slowly to her, before he dropped next to her. She tried to smile, and he returned a slightly warmer smile to her. She cleared her throat, “can I um…” She had no idea how to start, how to move closer to him, but he made the choice for her, moving closer until he could grab her good arm, and gently pulled her closer, so she was leaning on his side, under his arm. She shivered slightly, and he used his far hand to rub up her arm, taking away any pain that he caused by rubbing her sore shoulder.  “This doesn’t mean I have forgiven you.” She spoke quietly, trying not break this little truce they had, for the moment.

“You might forgive me one day, but I will never forgive myself.” He spoke just as quietly, his lips in her hair, and she moved again, climbing over his leg to sit between his, her back pressed against his chest.  “Wait Stiles,” he pushed her forward slightly, reaching over for the pillow she left in the corner, before he held it over his stomach. “Lift up.” She placed her hands on his thighs and lifted her bum, closing her eyes as he pushed the pillow beneath her. “Ok, sit back,” he grabbed her arms and guided her back, wrapping his arms around her as she relaxed her head against his chest again.

“Derek?”

“Hmmm?”

She fiddled with the edge of the pillow she could reach between her legs, “what did you think would happen when you told me that I was, when you told me all that stuff? After we had sex...”

He gripped her tighter, and rested his head against the wall behind him, still not sure he even knew what he hoped would happen.


	33. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, sorry!   
> This has taken WAY too long for me to update, and its bothered me almost daily, but I am back again, and I have such big plans for this fic, I hope you stick around!

Derek looked around the room as he held Stiles, who had been silent for a little while. The room was almost entirely empty, apart from the pillow that Stiles was sitting on, a bucket in one corner, and a basin close to it.

“Can you lift up for a second?” He asked, trying to wiggle out from behind Stiles.

“Why?” She looked over to where his gaze settled, and let out a small laugh. “Yeah, that basin isn’t connected to anything.” She moved forward anyway, and Derek got up, disappointed to see that there were no taps, no pipes, nothing. Just a useless fucking basin. He lashed out, hitting the basin once, stopping when he heard Stiles’ heartrate rocket.

“Fuck I’m sorry.” He turned to her, but her eyes were trained on the door.

“He’s coming.” She spoke low, probably didn’t even realise Theo would be able to hear her. Derek moved in front of her, and faced the door, ready to protect her.

Theo opened a hatch in the door, and he saw Theo’s eyes looking through the hole. Derek jumped at the chance, darting to the door, claws outstretched, and saw too late that Theo was holding his fucking cattle prod again, Derek’s fingers closing around it begore he could react. He fell to the floor, convulsing, as Theo pushed the door open, jamming the prod in the fleshy bit between Derek’s ribs and hip, rendering him unconscious.

Theo looked up to Stiles, who was standing frozen, and smiled predatorially. He turned to leave the room, returning a few seconds later, carrying a few stacked boxes. He threw them on the floor, and sauntered towards Stiles, still frozen to the spot.

“Derek. Derek please wake up.” She begged quietly, holding eye contact with Theo as he approached.

“Don’t worry so much Stiles, it really isn’t a pretty look on you.” He reached out and grabbed her hand, holding tight when she tried to pull away. “Uh uh, stop worrying!” He waited until she stopped struggling, and placed something in her good hand, and picked up her hand still in a cast. “Did he do this to you?” He looked into her eyes as she shook her head.

“No. I hit him. I’m not entirely defenceless,” she spat at him.

He laughed, letting her hand fall. “He looks fine, you are the one in the cast. If he really cared, he wouldn’t have let you hit him in the first place.” He turned and left the room, closing the locking the door behind him. She looked down into her hand and saw her necklace. Her free hand snaked up to her neck, feeling for her chain, not having realised it was missing. She put it on quickly, laying her fingers over it where it sat between her breasts. She looked over to Derek, and contemplated what she needed to do. She needed to get out. And she needed water. Food. Clothes. And somehow, Derek. She sighed, running her hands through her messy hair and groaning. Every cell in her body wanted him, craved him. Even now, she wanted to go to him, touch him, see if he is ok, but every iota of knowledge and thought and choice and reason within her was saying no. He wasn’t like anything she had ever wanted, in a long-term relationship. He frightened her. He had hurt her.

She walked over to him nonetheless, looking down at him, and feeling the battle within her; her turmoil bubbling and seething and his presence calming and soothing. She bent down, closer to his hips than his face, and touched his arm.

“Derek? Derek, wake up.” She spoke loudly, and he began stirring, his eyes red and looked at her before he could control himself. ‘Good choice, sitting away from his face.’

“Stiles?” He slurred slightly, sitting up when he was aware of who she was. “Are you ok? Did he touch you?” Her looked her up and down, gingerly sniffing the air to see if Theo had marked her in anyway, and his eyes stopped their movement at her necklace. “Who’s is that?”

Stiles looked down, touching the pendant, and looked back at him. “Mine.”

“But he gave it to you? You haven’t been wearing that.”

She closed her eyes and got up, unable to listen to him and his issues about this. “No, it was always mine. He just gave it back.”

She leaned against the useless basin, when a rustling caught her attention. She turned, seeing Derek looking in the boxes she had forgotten about.

“Water, food. Some clothes for you.” He held them out, along with a small bottle of water, and she moaned, grasping them quickly and shaking them out to see what they were, while drinking all the water.

“Stiles?”

She looked up at him, barely interested in what he wanted. “What?”

He picked up a bottle of water and a bar of soap, staying silent.

“Derek, use your words.” She tried to sound sweet, but she was too exhausted to play this stupid game.

He sighed, looking down before he spoke. “Do you want to clean it off?”

He didn’t need to specify what, and Stiles looked down to her tummy, seeing the remnants of the flaky mess. She tore her eyes away, and stalked over to Derek, grabbing the water and soap before returning to the basin, noting there was no plug, but Stiles was no quitter. She grabbed the lid off the bottle, thankfully a big 5l bottle, and managed to squeeze the soft plastic into drain before she up ended the bottle and watched the sink fill as much as 5l of water would. She put the bottle on the floor, and looked at the clothes. A shirt and long cotton pants. She looked down to her bra and panties, wanting and needing to take them off, but she wasn’t sure washing and wearing them wet was a good thing. She turned around, and shook her head when she saw Derek watching her.

“I want you to turn around.”

He nodded and sat down, facing the opposite wall, and she watched for a couple seconds to make sure he didn’t look back before she faced the sink and removed her grimy bra, dunking it in the water and soaping it up as best she could, before her panties joined. She left the soap on them, hanging them over the edge of the basin, trying to keep the water as clean as possible, and dipped her hands in the water, dragging them over her body before she grabbed the soap, looking back at Derek sporadically to make sure he wasn’t looking, and quickly scrubbed down, before she realised she had no way to rinse.

“Stiles? Your heartbeat is fast, what’s wrong?” She turned quickly, and was relieved that he hadn’t turned around.

“I, uh, have nothing to rinse myself off with.” She watched him glance in the box, but he came up with nothing. She looked around, hoping to see something, and her eyes landed on the pillow, which had a pillow case.

“Found something.” She rushed over, grabbing the pillow and pulled the cover off, before she quickly went to dunk it in the water, and began removing the drying soap bubbles, feeling content when she was rinsed as well as she was going to be, and quickly pulled the clean clothes on, before using the rest of the water to rinse her underwear, letting them hang again to dry.

“What about you?” She looked at Derek, who was still sitting. “You can turn around.” He quickly got up, and turned to her, making his way to the sink before he grabbed the pillow case and dragged it across his face and chest, not doing as much of a clean as Stiles did, but he felt better.

“We need to talk, and I don’t know how to do it without one or both of us yelling, or you trying to dominate me again.” She looked at him, crossing her arms as she watched the shame colour his features.

“That, uh, shouldn’t happen. You only smell of soap and you now, not him. I really am sorry about that, and I hope you know that.”

She shrugged, and went to sit on her pillow. He grabbed a couple packets of crisps before he went to sit by her, not too close but close enough that they could talk. He passed her a bag, and she tore into it immediately, and he supressed a smile at watching her eat and took a deep breath.

“OK, maybe we take turns, say everything that’s on our mind, and we can’t interrupt each other?”

She nodded, swallowing. “and of either of us gets angry, we have to stop and take a break.”

“Deal. You start.”


	34. Chapter 34

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy crap I'm updating...
> 
> Sorry it's taken so long, I just have had NO desire to do this fic until today, so I hope to get most of it written down today! Go me!

She frowned at him, irritated that he would tell her she had to start, even though she would have wanted to start. She took a deep breath, trying to control her anger before she had begun talking. “I hate what you did to me. I hate what you said to me. I can’t believe that I am stuck, in this god-awful mess. I hate that you think that you have a say in anything I do, and I hate that you, gah!” She ran her hands down he face, feeling massively angry and frustrated and, surprisingly, rejected. “You were such a dick to me, after using me the way you did. And I will never be ok with that.” She looked up at him and saw an unfamiliar expression fleetingly settle across his features.

He said nothing, and she avoided eye contact with him for a while, before she sighed.

“Just be honest with me, that’s all I want. You say one thing, and then do another-“

“Do you think any of this has been easy on me?”

She stared at him, stunned at his loud outburst.

“You don’t think I hate what I said? You don’t think I hate that I ever got involved with you at all?” He saw the moment he crushed her, tears that weren’t there a moment ago falling from her lashes, down her suddenly bright red cheeks. “Wait, listen!” He tried reaching out to grab her but she pulled away. He took a deep breath, and rushed into his explanation. “You know I’m a werewolf, I told you we have a bond. I felt that, I felt that bond before I even saw you.” She looked up at him for a second before she looked away again. “If I had known what that was, if I’d guessed it… I’d have left. I’d have just left town and left you alone to live a life where you don’t know I exist. I’d have done that, and felt like a piece was missing from my life, for my entire life, happy just knowing that you were safe from me, from all the shit that comes with knowing me. But I didn’t know. And I’m sorry.” He ended softly, and she peeked at him from the corner of her eye, taking in his side profile. He was looking at the floor, brown lowered and furrowed, eyes squeezed shut. She shifted slightly, and turned to face him a little more.

“I still think you are a dick.”

He looked at her, a small smile on his lips. “You and me both.”

She giggled slightly, before it died away quickly, and she sighed. “So now what? You know I can’t just forget what happened.”

He was shaking his head before she even finished. “I wouldn’t ever expect that. You, uh. I am well versed in how I push people away. Jesus, just ask the pack, they will tell you I’m the worst person in the world. I have a lot of, my past is, things have been shit. For me. For a long time. This,” he gestured to himself, “is pretty much all I’ll ever be. A jackass who doesn’t know what to say and when to bite his own tongue off. I told you about the fire, losing my entire family, my _pack_ , that’s something I’d never wish on anyone. I’ll never be over that, I don’t think.”

They sat in silence for a while. Stiles was mulling over what he had said. He hadn’t denied that he was a jerk, but she felt like maybe she could understand, a little, why he had been like that. Didn’t mean it still didn’t hurt like a knife in her chest though.

 

She woke suddenly, unaware of when she had even fallen asleep. She pushed away from Derek, her one side toasty warm. He stirred slightly, but stayed asleep. She got up, and made her way to the boxes. She rummaged quietly, looking through the options, when she noticed one of the flaps at the bottom of the box was higher than they other. She tentatively lifted the flap, and stilled for a moment. Theo had added a knife. All she could think of was that it was for her, what would Derek have needed a knife for? She looked over her shoulder quickly at Derek, checking he was still sleeping, and then back the knife which she tentatively picked up. It had a plastic covering, and when she prodded at the blade through the plastic, she saw it was covered in an oil, which moved beneath her fingers. She frowned. There had to be a reason Theo had bagged it, a reason she couldn’t – or shouldn’t – touch the oil. She bit her lip, trying to decide what she was going to do with the blade, when she head Derek behind her.

“Wondered when you would find that.” She turned quickly, looking up at Derek from where she was sitting on the floor. He crouched next to her, his eyes on hers. “It’s wolfsbane oil, probably. I can’t smell through the plastic, it's coated in some powder which is throwing me off.” She quickly dropped the knife, eyes wide, and scrubbed her hands on her pants. He grabbed her wrists, stilling their movement, “it’s harmless, he wants you to hurt me. He doesn’t want you to get hurt.”

She snorted, shaking her head. “He hurt my shoulder, remember.”

Derek’s eyes flicked to her shoulder, and back to her eyes. “I think that was more to get at me.”

Stiles shrugged, “still hurts like a bitch. Whether it was you or me, I am hurt.”

He reached out tentatively, and she looked from his outstretched hand to his eyes, not knowing what to do. When she didn’t make a move, Derek placed his hand on her shoulder and drew her pain, grabbing her other shoulder when she slumped slightly.

“Whoa…” She let Derek move her, her head feeling fuzzy and her shoulder not aching. He pulled her up, carrying her over to the pillow, and he sat down, still holding her. They sat like that until her head cleared, and she began playing with her fingers in her lap.

“What’s on your mind?”

She looked up at him, her lip between her teeth, worry in her eyes. “What is wolfsbane?”

“It’s a flower, poisonous to humans, more so to werewolves.”

She nodded, her brow wrinkling. “Why did he give it to us?”

“You. He gave it to you. And he probably thinks you are still angry enough to try hurt me. That’s what he wanted, remember.”

“Then he will kill us.”

His arms tightened around her, and his eyes glowed red. “I will not let him kill you.”

“Then I might have a plan.” She spoke so quietly and so quickly Derek immediately snapped out of it, one eyebrow raised as he looked down at her.

“You once said that you heal faster, how does that work?”

He wordlessly moved her to sit next to him, and lifted his palm so she could see him pop a claw and drag it across the skin, blood pooling. She made a gagging noise and Derek almost laughed, watching her features change as she watched the skin knit back together.

“The fuck.”

He did laugh then, a low chuckle. He wiped the blood away on his jeans, and she grabbed his wrist, scrutinising the palm, before she jumped up and began pacing. He sat back, frowning, watching as she mumbled to herself.

“What are you doing?”

She stopped, her eyes wide, and she smiled.

“I have a plan.”


	35. Chapter 35

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heads up, mentions of blood... Often...

At first he straight up refused, before he realised it made sense. Then he frowned as he thought through the plan. Stiles paced and threw random info at him, which wasn’t helping, but he wouldn’t tell her that. He eventually gave in, and they tested the theory and prepared for the plan in one step. It was all or nothing at this point.

“Ok, so bleed in the bottle, I’ll dip the blade in.”

He nodded, slicing his wrist this time to get a substantial amount of blood. If they were going to test the theory, they had to make sure to do it right first time. He directed the flow into the bottle, reopening the skin whenever he healed, until Stiles stopped him. She smiled sat him, and he rubbed over the now irritated but healing skin. He watched her intensely as she dipped the blade in, whisking it around to mix the blood with the wolfsbane oil. She held her breathe as she pulled out the blade, throwing it to the floor as she stared at the blood, a smile spreading on her face. If Derek didn’t know better, he would be terrified.

He swallowed, and dipped his finger in the blood, noting how it tingled the skin, but that was all. He lifted his finger to smell the mixture and pulled it away quickly, nodding. “Yep, smells like blood and wolfsbane.” Stiles smacked him in the chest, and he chuckled. “It will work. I think. It will work well enough to get him in here, and close enough to me.”

She smiled again, and clasped her hands together, “let’s do this!”

He closed his eyes as he laid on the floor, in the furthest corner, and tried to calm his racing heart as she painted the blood on his chest and face, keeping clear of his eyes and mouth. He heard her get up, drop the bottle into the box, before she covered it up and shoved it by the sink, which was still close to Derek. Better to keep the scent in one area, they had decided. He heard her distinctly pick up the knife again, and he fought hard to retain control of himself and not jump up. He felt so vulnerable, but he was confident enough that she wouldn’t hurt him. He knew he needed to get her out, and she knew he was her only shot at getting past Theo.

She came over to him, and he cracked open one eye to look at her. “I kind of feel bad for making you do this.” He opened his other eye too, making sure he kept still, and frowned.

“This is the only way we are getting out. You need to not hesitate, do you understand?”

She nodded, and swallowed. He wanted to reach out and touch her, to reassure her, but he didn’t want to displace the blood. The wolfsbane had done an amazing job of stopping the blood from coagulating, and this was their only shot. He closed his eyes again, and focused on the door, listening for Theo. Stiles took a deep breath and steeled herself, staring down at Derek, bringing up everything he had put her through. She thought of how hurt she was, that he had rejected her, she thought of how he had used her and thrown her aside. She felt her anger bubbling again, and screamed out wordlessly, lashing out at him, kneeling down to smack him repeatedly in the chest, some small part of her aware of how her injured hand was definitely going to be set back in healing after this. She had the knife in her fist, pointing upwards towards her, and she had to be aware enough to not stab herself in the face. He quietly groaned that Theo was outside the door, and she continued to bash against his chest, now turning the knife the right way, until she heard the hole on the door slide open, and he threw the knife to the ground, still screaming out her frustrations. She sobbed, suddenly realising that she had started crying. She stilled her fists, watching the blossoming bruises on his chest slowly fading, but not fast enough because of the wolfsbane slowly seeping through his skin. She lowered her head to his chest, crying loudly, distantly aware of Theo coming towards them.

“You stupid man, you stupid, thoughtless man!” She sobbed through, although she hadn’t planned this part. She was supposed to be moving away from Derek, leaving Theo to go in for the kill, but she couldn’t. “I fucking love you and you didn’t even give me a chance!” She shut her mouth, her teeth grinding shut, and she moved away quickly, awareness of what she said making her heart beat loudly in her ears. She slowly watched Theo move closer still, a smile on his face, taking in the bloody and beaten body of Derek. He looked over at Stiles, and stopped.

“How did you do it?” He asked incredulously, his head cocked to the side.

Her eyes were glued on Derek’s body. His chest was barely moving, and she was so frightened that she had gone too far, that she has hurt him too much. “He, he was sleeping. I found the knife. I, he was sleeping. I stabbed him, but he said werewolves heal, why isn’t he healing?” She hadn’t taken her eyes off of Derek, and Theo walked over to her, crouching in front of her, grabbing her jaw to force her to look at him.

“Wolfsbane. I coated the knife in wolfsbane. Werewolves and wolfsbane don’t get along, sunshine. You probably killed him.” Stiles was about to yell out, terrified that she had, when Theo was yanked up, and thrown across the floor. She tracked her eyes up Derek’s body, who was standing in front of her, shielding her from a snarling Theo.

Everything seemed to be happening as if the room was filled with water. Their movements weren’t fast, they seemed to be slow and forced, and she sat, unable to move. She realised belatedly that she was close to a panic attack, and hadn’t taken a breathe since Theo had grabbed her chin. She drew in a deep, shaky breathe, and the sound of roars and snarls began filling her ears. She got up quickly, unsure of what to do, how to help. Derek had said she must keep out of the way at all costs, but seeing them fighting, trying to tear each other apart, was immensely difficult. She watched as Theo grabbed Derek around the neck, and threw him across the room, where he smacked against the wall, and Theo followed, going to grab him again. She threw her hand over her mouth, desperate to not make a noise, to draw his attention from Derek, and she looked down to the knife, darting quickly to get it. She almost shouted in relief when Derek sprung up, and she watched as he ran to Theo, lifting him by his legs and slamming him onto the floor, but Theo was quick to get his feet on Derek’s chest and kick him across the room again. He jumped up, and ran towards Stiles, grabbing her around the neck and her waist, holding her back against his chest. Derek stopped, fear dawning on his face, seeing Theo’s claws pressed into her neck, not hard enough to draw blood yet.

“Well, sunshine, seems like you didn’t do a very good job, I thought you were angry with him?”

She didn’t even reply, and just threw her hand back into his side, the blade sinking into his skin, and his claws pierced her neck as he stumbled slightly, but he let her go enough that Derek could grab her and yank her behind him again. They both watched Theo pull the blade out, dropping it to the floor. He tried taking a step towards them but stumbled again.

Derek looked over his shoulder to Stiles, “turn around, cover your ears.” She had no time to react before he pushed her slightly, turning her. She mindlessly crouched down, covering her ears, slamming her eyes shut. Her tears began streaking down her face again, and she tried so hard to ignore what might be happening behind her.


	36. Chapter 36

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, apparently we have come to the end? Not sure I love this, but here we are anyways!  
> Thank you for reading to the end, and I'm sorry if the end seems rushed, but this fic has been kicking my ass for MONTHS now! I hope you enjoy it anyway!  
> X

Stiles woke, for the first time in what felt like a lifetime, to the hint of sun, shining through the gap in her curtains. She rubbed her eyes, and propped herself up on one elbow to face the window, frowning at the sight. She struggled to remember why she hadn’t noticed the sun for awhile, and shook her head as she got up, making her way to the bathroom, making sure to turn the shower on as she walked past. She looked at herself in the mirror, her frown deepening as she took in the almost gaunt look she had taken on, her lips dry, dark shadows under her eyes, her eyes bloodshot. She undressed slowly, noting the stiffness in her shoulder, and bruises running from one side, bruised wrists, bruised knees…

“The actual fuck happened?” She stared at herself, and felt like an air horn was going off in her head, telling her she was missing something vital. She rushed into the hot spray, and sat down, taking deep breaths as she tried to prevent what felt like a panic attack, but it never hit. She sat, confused, until the water began to cool, and she washed quickly, jumping out the barely tepid water as fast as she could. She tried to gather her thoughts as she dressed, before she went to make coffee, greeting her fur babies as she entered the living area. She stopped, a few steps into the kitchen, and looked back at Robin, who was watching her, her tail going mad. Stiles knew there was something _odd_ about this whole situation, and still had no clue what. She reached down to pet Robin, before resuming her hunt for coffee, and taking it out to the balcony.

She sat, enjoying the sunshine, even though the winter breeze was bracing. She looked over to the other building, and focused immediately on the only balcony she could see. There was something about that apartment, but she didn’t know what… She jumped, almost out of her skin, when someone knocked on her door. She went for the door quickly, remembering to tell Robin and Batman to stay in the bedroom, before she opened and stood, mouth gaping like a fish, before she tried to slam the door.

Her dad stopped the door from closing with his foot, and held both of his hands in the air, as if to make her feel less angry.

“What the hell do you want?” She glared at him, crossing her arms as se blocked the entry to the apartment as best she could.

“I came to talk to you, Stiles I found you!” He seemed to be pleading with her, but that only fuelled her anger more.

“Pardon? Found me? Found _me_? I was never lost! You abandoned me, you threw me out, you were the one who told me to leave!”

“Stiles, I, I can’t apologise enough I know I will never deserve forgiveness but I’m your father!”

She glowered at him, “yes, you are my father, and you still threw me out.”

He ran a hand down his face, and Stiles was shocked to note the wetness on his cheeks as he looked at her again.

“Stiles, I am so sorry, and I need to tell you that. I am sorry, and I regret every single decision I have made since your mother, since your mother passed. I know it’s no excuse, but you never called me back, and then I looked into Hale’s background, and that man has -“

“Who?” She was so confused now. “Who is Hale?”

He looked at her, as if trying to determine if she was telling the truth. “Derek Hale. He spoke to me when I called you.”

She frowned again, her eyes flitting to the floor as she tried to remember who the hell Derek Hale was, and when her dad had ever called her. “You haven't spoken to me since you kicked me out.” She whispered, afraid to make eye contact.

“I did, honey, I called you weeks ago.” He spoke softly too, and Stiles turned away, going to sit on the couch. She didn’t even worry when her dad followed her, closing the door behind him. He didn’t sit though, which made Stiles feel better. “Stiles, do you remember me calling?”

She shook her head, now trying to figure out what she had done in the last month, and she was terrified to realise she couldn’t recall anything. “Dad, please go buy dinner. I want Chinese. We, uh, we need to talk.” He nodded, and he left. She waited for a moment before she got up, and opened the door to see the cruiser driving past, and she wasted no time in grabbing her keys, locking up0 and going across to the other building. She kept an eye out for her balcony, somehow worried about knocking on the wrong door. When she was sure had the right door, right floor, she felt a little… Empty. She had a feeling she should know what’s here, or specifically, who, but she had no information to recall. She knocked, quietly first, and then louder, wanting to seem confident. When no one answered, and tried the handle, and suppressed a confused gasp when the door opened.

The apartment was empty.

 

 

Months went by, with moments where the hair on the back of her neck stood on end, the feeling of eyes boring into her neck overwhelming, but every time she turned, she saw nothing.

Her doctor (also her mother’s, before she passed) attributed her blank memory of the last month to post-traumatic amnesia, and she was ok with that, it was a better diagnosis of dementia, which she had been assured never began with memory loss. There was a part of her, a part that writhed and never settled, which had her second guessing the diagnosis, but she had nothing to prove it wrong, which infuriated her, so she tried to not think of it.

Sometimes, she felt like a giant piece of the puzzle was missing, such as when she ventured out to the bank after her memory issues seemed to end, and she saw a sum of money in her account that she was sure was wrong, even going so far as reporting it to the teller, but she was informed the money had been there for a while, and wasn’t a mistaken transaction.

She also had a job, which she felt odd about. A few days after she seemed to remember her daily activities again, she received a call from a rescue shelter, asking when she would be returning to work, as if she had taken ill in her last days of her missing memory, perhaps? She didn’t know, but was happy to have a job, and a pretty well-paying one at that!

There were other moments, stranger still, where she saw a face, and it felt like a flood of water was running through her. Every cell of her body _knew_ these people, the fierce blonde woman, the beautiful brunette, even the guy with the crooked jaw and the sad eyes. Her brain, however, couldn’t match them up with any information. She had tried to talk to the guy the last time she saw him, but he turned a corner in front of her, and when she got there, he had disappeared.

She and her dad had been trying to mend things between them, which she wasn’t still entirely on board with, but there was a part of her that ached for the familiarity of family, and she was trying hard to begin to forgive him.

 

One day, a lawyer rocked up at her door.

“Hi, can I help you?” She looked at him from the crack in her door.

“Ms Stilinski?”

“Um, yeah, that’s me?”

“My name is George Bloomfield, I am here to deliver the last living will and testament of Mr Hale.”

“Hale? You mean Dirk?” She had all but forgotten the name her father had mentioned.

“Derek, yes.”

She opened up, “who is he?” She motioned for him to come in and sit, and she sat across from him.

“I was never given specifics unfortunately, Ms Stilinski. I do have a copy of the will here, as well as a letter and parcel addressed to you. If you could fill in these forms, I will arrange for all transfers to be made.”

Stiles tentatively filled in her details, before bidding Bloomfield goodbye. She grabbed a glass of wine and scissors, and sat on the couch with the sealed letter and parcel, opening it up carefully.

_Dear Stiles,_

_You don’t remember me, but there was a fleeting moment we belonged to each other. I have fought myself each and every day to not knock on your door and explain everything, but then this will have all been for nothing. I am beyond sorry that I have to do this, but I know enough about you that you would fight the transfers I have arranged for you._

_By the time you receive this letter, I will be dead. I hope that nothing changed for you, after I died. I did as much research as I could to ensure that it wouldn’t, but I do have friends looking out for you, and if they think this has affected you, they will help you, but only if and when you need them. I want to keep you safe, even if I’m gone._

_In a couple of days, a sum of money will be paid into your nominated account. Trust me when I tell you, after everything we went through, you deserve this and so much more. Please, don’t fight the transfer. It is yours, to do with what you please._

_Stiles, I am so sorry, I wish I could have been better for you._

_I always loved you, even when I didn’t know how to show you._

_Derek_

Stiles read the letter over and over, hoping each time that it would make more sense, but frustratingly, it never did. She moved her attention to the parcel, cutting it open and turned it upside down in her palm.

A silver pendant and chain landed in her hand, solid and heavy. She dropped the bag to look at the pendant. “A triskelion,” she muttered to herself, and felt a strange pull to put the necklace on, and smiled at where it settled between her breasts, over her heart. A familiar feeling settled over her, but she couldn’t place her finger on it. She sighed as she got up, putting the letter in her desk drawer and made her way to her car. She had a meeting with an architect out on a piece of land she had purchased a couple of weeks ago. She began driving, letting her thoughts take her back to when she first ventured down this stretch of highway. She had felt the need to drive, and had ended up in the middle of nowhere, and immediately needed to live there. Why she felt so attuned with this land, she couldn’t tell, but it called out to her; settled her. The land had been going for such a ridiculously low amount, she wasn’t sure how no one else had snatched it up, but she couldn’t be happier that no one had. She eventually turned down the dirt road that led up to a burnt out husk of a house, and climbed out as she greeted the architect, mind full of ideas for her new home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone wonders, I imagine that Derek gave up being an Alpha, giving the power to Boyd, who in my mind would have been an awesome Alpha!   
> Also, by choosing to be away from Stiles, he would have become weak and eventually died, pretty much withering away. I feel like this is the best thing he could have done for Stiles, for his family, for his own mental health. He knew he would never want her in the same situation he had put her in with Theo, and finally loved someone enough to sacrifice himself for them.   
> Stiles waking up would have been a day or two after the fiasco with Theo, and Derek took her memories (the same way you would access memories, with claws) to try give her back some semblance of a life.  
> If you have any other questions I haven't thought of, ask away and I'll answer them!


End file.
